Billy’s Story – At Home Care Grants | Youngcare

Billy – you couldn’t meet a nicer guy! A family man, lover of sport and outdoorsy-type, Billy embraces life. When asked where his passions lie, without hesitation Billy said, “motivating others to work through hard times”. And that is also why Billy is so grateful for the support of Youngcare’s At Home Care Grants – a small amount of funding helped Billy regain independence and joy.   

While Billy exudes positivity and a zest for life, he has experienced his fair share of dark days. The months following his accident were some of the lowest points in Billy’s life, he spent a lot of time thinking “why me?”. Billy acquired his spinal cord injury in a freak accident; during a camping trip he was helping a fellow camper whose car was stuck, started to feel lightheaded and fainted. When Billy fell from where he was sitting, he landed directly on his head with his neck taking the weight of his body. A cruel turn of events for the kind and selfless camper.  

“When I woke up, I asked my friend if I landed on my head and when he said, ‘yes’ I tried to roll over and straight away realized I couldn’t feel anything.”  

This moment in time changed Billy’s life forever. He now has a permanent physical disability and requires daily support.   

Australia was lucky to have claimed New Zealand born Billy as our own in 2004, but unfortunately this means Billy could not access the NDIS as he was not a citizen upon his application. On top of this, due to his physical changes, Billy was forced to relinquish his driver’s license, and with it, his independence.  

Without the NDIS it is expensive to access the community using taxis, so Billy’s days were passing by within the four walls of his home. He felt isolated and trapped. Billy’s family and partner were always there when he needed them, but he was proud and yearned for his independence!  

Soon enough, Billy set himself a goal – he would get his license back. He soon discovered learning how to drive with a physical disability required trial and error, a lot of time and even more money! Billy had no idea how he was going to afford it all. 

“We’d gone through so many avenues to try to get help, but we kept being told ‘no’, so we had become exhausted with asking.”  

Billy had all but lost hope until he came across the Youngcare At Home Care Grants.

Billy received funding for driving lessons with a specialist instructor and to modify his vehicle to suit his accessibility needs. It sounds cliché, but this small amount of funding has literally transformed Billy’s life. He can leave the house whenever he wants; a basic human right and matter of safety that many of us take for granted.  

“I am driving myself almost every day to my appointments, the gym, on holidays to the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, to the shops with my support workers to do groceries.” 

Billy attends every family gathering, his cousins and kids cheekily ensuring their kind favours of the past have been returned ten-fold! When asked about the best thing Billy has achieved since getting his license back, he said simply being able to leave the house whenever he wants.   

“If I feel hungry, if I feel like I need some company, if I feel like I just need to get out and go for a drive, I can do those things without relying on anyone else. People take these things for granted.”  

Billy is so proud of his achievement, rightly so, and puts the shift in his mental health down to the kindness and generosity of Youngcare’s donors.  

“I have gone from setting a goal, to going through the process of being able to drive a car, and then being able to confidently drive around the city…all of that from one grant! 

I want to let you know, for people like me, the grants change our lives, change our thoughts. It takes you from feeling like you could never do something to achieving this thing that is fundamental to life and the way that we feel. I am so appreciative that I can be more independent.”