Johnny Konings can’t access government support after serious surfing injury

A Kiwi national left paralysed in a surfing accident on the Gold Coast has copped another devastating blow, deemed ineligible for support from either the Australian or New Zealand governments.

Johnny Konings in hospital after his surfing accident. Picture: Supplied / Instagram

A Kiwi national left paralysed after a surfing accident on the Gold Coast has received another devastating blow, after being deemed ineligible for support from either the Australian or New Zealand governments.

Johnny Konings, 32, suffered a fractured spine, broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung when he was speared into the sand at Duranbah in June last year.

The accident cut short his building career and shattered the hopes and dreams of he and his fiance, Charlie Gordon.

Coast woman Brooke Colless, whose teenage son Kai became a champion adaptive surfer after also suffering a crippling spinal cord injury several years ago, has launched a GoFundMe campaign for “these beautiful humans” whom she said had been left in an awful limbo.

Mrs Colless said Johnny and Charlie had been living and working in Australia for too many years to get NZ government assistance but hadn’t been here long enough to qualify for NDIS support.

Johnny Konings with his fiancee Charlie Gordon. Picture: Supplied / Instagram

She said the couple were in a “devastating financial position” while facing “exorbitant costs” and were “not going to survive this without some help”.

Mrs Colless said Johnny had spent six months in hospital before he was “pretty much kicked out” with a starter wheelchair bought with funds raised by staff.

She said the couple had been “haemorrhaging” already tight funds on therapy and a non-accessible rental.

“Charlie has been running on adrenaline for the last 12 months since Johnny’s injury trying to be the backbone of this recovery, holding Johnny up, advocating for him daily, getting him to and from all of his appointments, being his 24-hour carer on top of attempting to work some kind of hours to attempt to support the two of them,” she said.

“Neither of them have any independence as Johnny is fully reliant on Charlie. “Usually with a spinal cord injury there is funding provided for support workers to come in and assist to alleviate that pressure on loved ones but these guys find themselves with zero help.

“I know first hand the exorbitant costs involved, only we have been able to obtain NDIS funding assistance to help us with some of the costs.

“If you’ve never had anything to do with spinal cord injury I can assure you the costs are many and varying. For example, just catheters alone can cost around $20,000 a year for one lifesaving piece of medical equipment a spinal cord patient can’t live without daily.

Johnny Konings and Charlie Gordon at a ball on the Gold Coast. Picture, Portia Large.

“This doesn’t take into account any of the other things that are necessary parts of daily life or things that improve independence or help a spinal cord injury patient to re-access the community like lightweight wheelchairs, electric assist devices to help save shoulders, specialised beds, slide boards and equipment in the home, day to day medical requirements, beach wheelchairs, vehicle modifications and the list goes on.”

The fundraising effort received a huge boost when Gold Coast developer Anthony Quinn kicked in $30,000 on Tuesday after reading about the couple’s plight on couriermail.com.au

“Very sad to hear that bureaucracy is getting in the way of empathy and human decent,” said Mr Quinn, of developer QNY.

“On behalf of QNY, I truly wish them all the best during this incredibly troubling time and hope our donation allows them to get the vehicle to facilitate their independence.”

Ms Colless said her first goal was to raise enough funds for a hand-controlled car so Johnny could get to and from rehab appointments.

“This will also give Charlie the opportunity to get back to work full-time to help them both financially and to give them some time away from each other, helping their relationship to survive this trauma,” she said.

“My hope is also that we would raise some funds for continued therapy for Johnny, wheelchairs and equipment (and) IVF to give these guys the opportunity to have children of their own one day.

“As we all know mental health is so important and the situation these guys find themselves in, in my opinion, is not only dire but extremely heartbreaking.

“I’d like to think that as a community and as human beings that when we see someone doing it really tough that we would be able to band together to help build them back up.”

The GoFundMe campaign has so far raised just over $7000 of its $35,000 target.

People can donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/surfing-spinal-cord-injury-help-johnny-get-back-on-his-feet

Originally published as Johnny Konings can’t access government support after serious surfing injury