From Struggle to Support: Les's Story

When a motorbike accident led to Les’s right arm being amputated in 2006, there was no peer support available. “It was a rough journey,” he recalls. “I had an awful lot of problems with phantom pain and adapting to life and there was no one who understood.”

Les’s family fell apart and he lost friends. “Many of my mates were fishermen like me. They’d go out on the boat and have a few beers. Suddenly I can’t put bait on a hook or take a fish off a hook. I couldn’t join them.” 

Les was also no longer able to perform as a concert guitarist, something he did often and enjoyed immensely.

It was a long, difficult journey and on some days, Les admitted, he struggled to get out of bed at all.

Building a new life

Les found the strength and bit by bit, he rebuilt his life. While he lost some friends, others who he shared different interests with, remained. He made new connections, including a caregiver who later became his wife. She encouraged Les to try music again, suggesting the cornet. He didn’t take to it and instead, considered the French horn, the instrument his wife-to-be played. She didn’t see how he could manage it as the French horn is a left-handed instrument, requiring the arm Les lost. He saw this as a challenge and had a French horn specially made for him, the other way around, so he could play with his right hand. Les loved it.

It’s now 10 years since Les started playing and he now plays with the Kapiti Concert Orchestra and the Palmerston North Sinfonia, and in stage shows like Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. Speaking of opera, Les will be performing in Monster in the Maze with the NZSO and NZ Opera society in September at the St James Theatre in Wellington.

Find out more about the upcoming show, Monster in the Maze, here.

Finding purpose in the Peer Support Service

Les is one of the incredible people who volunteer for the Peke Waihanga Peer Support Service. He is sharing his story to encourage other people to consider volunteering and to let people know about the service.

Les offers, “You went through this event, you lost an arm or a leg, whether by infection or accident or you were born that way, it doesn’t matter. You still have a perspective that no-one else has and you can use your life-changing event for good. That kind of thing makes it worthwhile getting up in the morning. You could sit and wallow – when I went through it, I had a stroke as well, all sorts of things were going wrong and you lay there thinking, what’s the point in keeping going? That’s when you need someone like me to come in and say, I get it, it’s tough. I’m here with you and here’s my hand. We’ll walk through it together. There is a life afterwards and you’ll rebuild it. it will be difficult but you’ll get there.”

Les says it’s not always easy being a Peer Support Service Volunteer, “There are going to be people who are angry, sad, disturbed and you can’t just go in with smiles. You’ve got to take the rough with the smooth.” He adds, “It’s important to show that there is a life afterwards that can be just as fulfilling.”

To anyone considering volunteering, Les says the service includes superb training and preparation for what lies ahead. Plus, “you always get the choice to say no, and that’s important.”

The ideal volunteer?

To Les, the most important quality is empathy. “You have to be able to feel what they’re feeling, have that understanding. There’s got to be something in you that wants to help other people. That’s really important. There is no point doing it if you’re just doing it for your resume. It’s about giving and doing it quietly, you’re not shouting about it to anyone. For me, I had done other community work, including Victim Support, but I still felt unfulfilled until this came along. It's very fulfilling. You feel that you’ve had a positive impact.”

If you think you might be interested in joining the Peer Support Service for amputees and people with limb difference, you can find out more about the service here.