Tetraplegia Workgroup
“Tetraplegics are a very forgotten bunch of people.”
This is what I remembered most vividly from the conversation I had with Dr Wee Teck Young some 8 years ago.
And it was this very reason that he started the Tetraplegia Workgroup in 1999 as a non-profit voluntary group of doctors, nurses and helpers in 1999, under the umbrella of Friends of Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Singapore). This was to help meet the medical, social, vocational and physical needs of tetraplegics as most of these persons are home-bound.
Tetraplegics (also commonly known as quadriplegics) are a very special group of handicapped people. They are paralysed/weak in ALL four limbs as a result of spinal cord injury, and are dependent on a care-giver almost 24/7. Going out was a logistical nightmare because of their immobility, and as such, they are kept very much away from the public’s eye. It was also very costly to go out - a visit to the doctor, for example, will cost them $50 to book a taxi for a round trip!
Paraplegics, on the other hand, are paralysed in two limbs but are more mobile as they can still steer a wheelchair independently.
And as the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind”. So, needless to say, there is very little public awareness of the tetraplegics’ existence… and their needs.
At that time of the conversation with Dr Wee, I was working as a photojournalist with SPH. And I volunteered to do a photo-essay on the life of the tetraplegics to create greater public awareness. In my spare time, I visited and befriended a few tetraplegics with Dr Wee and was privileged enough to have a glimpse into their life - to see the challenges & struggles they face each day, their dogged determination to survive and their humour to help carry them through. Read about their story above.