Michael Moore denied NDIS despite doctors saying his brain injury is permanent

A man with an acquired brain injury has been denied NDIS funding despite his doctors saying he will likely never recover.

A devastating brain injury suffered two years ago, has left Sandy Creek man Michael Moore unable to recall anything from 2019 onwards, but the NDIS has rejected his application for funding.

Doctors have said Mr Moore’s condition, which left him in a coma for four days and caused hallucinations making him believe he was Elvis Presley’s twin and a cornflake, is likely to be permanent – as his symptoms have extended beyond the typical recovery period.

“If he goes out the front door, he probably can’t find his way back to our home,” his wife Lynda Moore, 68, told The Advertiser.

The 62-year-old, who suffers from seizures, said he wouldn’t remember this interview and didn’t remember an interview conducted by The Advertiser earlier this year when he and his wife renewed their vows at the Fringe’s Inflatable Church.

“I have to tell him everyday to take his medication, and if I don’t he has forgotten,” Ms Moore said.

“Even if I put it on the bench for him, he might have left it and walked away.”

Michael and Lynda Moore renewing their vows at the Inflatable Church on Valentine’s Day 2024. Picture: Russell Millard

In a letter dated July 24, the NDIS said Mr Moore did not meet the disability and early intervention requirements.

“They say there’s nothing wrong with Michael, he doesn’t have a disability, he’s got a medical condition,” Ms Moore, who has filled in the application on her husband’s behalf, said.

“It’s damaged his cognitive condition … it is a permanent brain injury,” Ms Moore said.

“He’s got scarring on his brain, and that’s not going to get better.”

Mr Moore has LGI1 auto-immune encephalitis, a condition where his immune system attacks his brain and he is the only person in South Australia with it.

“I feel bloody helpless because I can’t step in and take over, I can’t do anything,” Mr Moore said.

“I’m just sitting here listening to her (Ms Moore) tell you what she’s done and to me, I’m hearing it for the first time … but I know I’m not.

“When she tells you things that she’s done for me, it’s like the first time I’m hearing it, and that’s how it is with a lot of things in life these days.

“My immediate short term memory, that’s just vanished.

“Anything before four years ago is fine but I will not remember this conversation tomorrow.

In a letter dated July 24, the NDIS said Mr Moore did not meet the disability and early intervention requirements. Picture: Russell Millard

“I keep a daily diary, so tonight I’ll write this down.”

Mr Moore worked as an executive officer of a national agricultural body.

“I’m not the sort of person to sit and watch TV or bludge and neither is my wife,” he said.

“It’s hard coming up against the cynicism of the system, immediately assuming that if you’re making an application and you sound like you’re okay, and you’re walking, and there’s no physical impairment, then you can be out there in the workforce.

“But I would be a danger to anybody I was working for and a danger to myself.”

An NDIA spokesman said “the National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) priority is ensuring Australians eligible for the NDIS receive the disability-related supports they require”.

“Access to the NDIS is based on a person’s functional impairment, not on their condition or diagnosis,” they said.

“The Agency has assessed Mr Moore as ineligible for the Scheme off the current evidence available. Mr Moore and his support network have been informed what further evidence is required to reconsider his NDIS eligibility.

“The NDIA has connected Mr Moore with a local area co-ordinator, who can assist him to connect with mainstream and community supports as necessary.”

Mr and Ms Moore will appeal the decision and ask for a review.

“I’m extremely stressed, extremely anxious, it’s affecting my health, because I have to keep fighting all these battles,” Ms Moore said.

“It shouldn’t be a battle.

“I’m at a loss of what to do.”