Justice for Jenny

 

For the past 30 years, my mum, Jenny Hunt, has been a committed mother. Sacrificing a career, she instead home-schooled her three children, choosing the life of a full-time mother as well as wife. For my mum, this wasn’t simply a job for her; it was her life, what she loved to be and part of her identity.

However, on the 30th of November, 2012, what was meant to be an ordinary shopping trip turned into a day that would affect the rest of her and her family’s life. Without any warning, she slipped over in Woolworths at the Buranda Shopping Centre on vomit from a Woolworths’ staff member. The staff admit they knew about the vomit. They left it unattended and took no precaution to provide warning signage that there was a spill and to take due care.

Jenny landed awkwardly on her back which subsequently created bulging discs in her lower back.  She suffers constant pain and her disability has elevated to the point where getting up from a chair is a struggle for her. She can no longer travel long distances in a car. The pain from sitting up for extended periods of time is too painful to the point where she has to lie down. She always enjoyed going out for the day whether it be to the beach or to theme parks down on the Gold Coast, which is now no longer possible.

 We lived over an hour out of Ipswich but now it is impossible for her to travel for that extended period of time due to the pain and we have had to move closer to get easier access to pain management facilities, doctors etc.

She was on strong narcotics for her pain and had them every day for almost 3 years to help manage it, which she was told would eventually cause liver damage. So 3 months ago, she gave up the drugs which caused severe withdrawals (extreme sleep deprivation and depression). She now tries to cope with natural therapies such as acupuncture and has joined the local pool in hopes that hyrdrotherapy may provide some relief. She has had to purchase a walker because getting around is just too difficult. 

She has since been evaluated by Centrelink doctors and has been granted a disability pension (the government recognises her disability but Woolworths doesn’t).  I am her carer. I now have to assist her with all the chores she used to be more than capable of doing, like cleaning the house, going shopping and her own personal care. These are things my mother took great pride in before the incident but they are now things she can no longer do. It has all been taken away from her through no fault of her own. Her neurosurgeon said there is no operation he can perform and no guarantee that she will ever recover. 

All we ask for is enough compensation so my mother can live as comfortably as possible, which Woolworths refuses to do.

Please, sign this petition to get Justice for Jenny and we can submit it to Woolworths’ lawyers, showing that the public won’t stand for this sort of negligence and show them my mother is not alone.

 

Jenny’s quality of life has extremely deteriorated. After putting so many years into raising her children, I know she deserves better than this. Exercise used to be a huge part of her life. She used to go for 5km walks a day and all day shopping trips were one of her favourite past-times, but she now finds it hard to walk any distance pain-free without the aid of a walker. So many things my mother used to be able to do are no longer possible; it is as if part of her identity has been taken away from her.

 

Please, sign this petition and help make Woolworths take responsibility for their actions.

 

Sincerely Yours,

 

Allanah Hunt (Jenny’s daughter).