EDEN Rehabilitation Centre is located only 15 minutes from Noosa in the heart of Cooroy and offers all the comforts one can expect from a private hospital.
Staffed by passionate healthcare professionals, Eden is a 48-bed private hospital that has a reputation as a caring centre where patients feel at home.
Recent in-patient, Ray, suffered a brain haemorrhage in late July last year and stayed at Eden Rehabilitation Centre for one month.
Ray has shared his experience, which he describes as inspiring, and now volunteers at the centre to help share his joy for rehabilitation work.
“I was diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage (a bleed in the brain), which resulted in memory and orientation loss such as understanding place and time, speech problems including difficultly retaining written and spoken information and word finding difficulties,” Ray said.
“I was later transported to Eden Rehabilitation in Cooroy, where I was to stay for the next month, and a further three months as a day patient. It was this exposure to the specialist care and therapies at Eden that inspired me to become a volunteer at Eden Rehabilitation.”
Ray said the expertise of the health staff and interactions with other patients was motivating.
“I want to inspire other patients with this motivation, as I get a lot of personal satisfaction when interacting with people and watching them improve with time,” he said.
“I’m feeling that in some ways I am contributing to their well-being and quality of life. As an outpatient myself, my volunteer work is also helping my personal goal of being able to express myself fluently.”
Ray said he now takes life day by day and would eventually like to return to part-time work.
“For now I am happy driving and playing golf as I used to,” he said.
“One of the things I have learnt during this experience is to only look forward and never look backwards. The patients that embrace a positive outlook on their future are the ones that have more successful outcomes.
“I hope through my volunteer work I can lift the spirits of other patients and provide comfort and guidance through the reflection of my own journey.”