Mel Koerber, Senior Clinician, Specialist Services Team (Adelaide)

The solo skydiver had done almost 200 jumps before the one that left her with critical injuries, and in a coma for two months.

Mel’s parachute became caught in unexpected turbulent wind when she was nearing the ground, leaving insufficient time to deploy an emergency chute.

“The (parachute’s) canopy twisted up into a big mess, and if I had been up a bit higher I probably would have had time to react, but it folded about 90 feet above ground and I fell quickly,” she says.

Mel had “countless broken bones” and multiple traumatic injuries, and says many of her bones are now “held together” with pieces of metal and internal fixations.

She also suffered a brain injury, leaving her with memory loss requiring intensive rehabilitation before she could return to work.

Mel, a Senior Clinician in the Department for Child Protection (DCP)’s Specialist Services Team, is sharing her story as we recognise International Day of People with Disability (3 December) this week.

Her role within the Disability and Development Program involves supporting staff in residential care to respond to the needs of young people with disability and other complex support requirements.

After the accident, Mel says she couldn’t remember what had happened in the three or so years before that day – memories that have largely since returned.

“(The accident) gave me a lot of insight into the experiences and lives of people living with disability and a taste of some of the challenges they are met with every day.”

She is now more acutely aware of the need to hear directly from young people and their care teams to understand what they need and “what success looks like for them”.

“More than anything, people want to feel heard,” she says. “I have always been devoted to my work in the disability sector and to improving the lives of people with disability, but I am now more outcome driven than ever”.

Among the rewarding outcomes Mel has seen in her work is those of a teenage girl who had very complex behaviours and disability support needs, and a history of trauma.

She was hesitant to connect with those who tried to help her, but after Mel assisted her to get the right supports and ensured she felt heard, her outlook shifted.

“We were finally able to have a really good conversation with her about what her goals are for the future and about the life that she wanted to live. It’s something she’s never really talked about before or had the space to think about, and it was rewarding finally giving her a voice.”

Caption: Naomi Fossey, Senior Disability Consultant, Regional Disability Team

Naomi Fossey, who works as a Senior Disability Consultant, also shared one of her rewarding moments in the Disability and Development Program – linking two primary school-aged girls who have hearing impairments with a new NDIS support coordinator.

“We located a support coordinator who had a hearing impairment herself, and connected them with better supports,” she says.

Naomi is part of DCP’s Regional Disability Team, which helps caseworkers in the department’s offices to link children with services.

She also worked with a mother in regional South Australia to access additional help to support her daughter. The girl had recently been diagnosed with autism and it’s hoped new services will strengthen her family’s ability to support her, following their reunification.

Naomi grew up with a cleft palate, requiring weekly speech therapy sessions.

“Seeing the struggles and challenges I had to go through gave me more compassion for people with disabilities and what families go through to make sure their child’s needs are being met,” she says.

International Day of People with Disability (3 December) aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilise support for the dignity, rights and wellbeing of people with disabilities.

The Department for Child Protection’s Disability and Development Program includes specialist allied health staff to provide advice about how to secure supports and services for children and young people in care with disability or developmental delay.

You can read more about other disability-specific resources available to carers on the carer section of our website.