Two years ago, a three-metre fall from a scaffold turned Simon Paradis's life upside down. The accident left the Halfmoon Bay resident, who had been working as a finishing carpenter, with spinal cord and brain injuries; he could no longer walk, and needed to relearn even basic motor skills.
Recently, Paradis put together a photo essay for WorkSafeBC, which details what his morning routine now looks like; the agency unveiled it last week.
The black and white photo montage, called Simon's Legs, shows Para-dis's morning routine as he gets up, showers, dresses and uses mobility devices made available through the agency. Each of the seven photos focus on his legs.
"I thought it added a perspective that a lot of people don't have on paraplegia, where they're actually seeing the legs that are sort of listless - having them be the focus," Paradis said.
According to Work-SafeBC special care services director Jennifer Leyen, Paradis's project is one result of the organization's move to provide more holistic services to severely injured workers.
"We believe that treatment for the most severely injured must rehabilitate not only the body, but the mind and spirit as well," she said in a news release. "We want to have more involvement, more interaction - all the things we believe will help improve the outcomes for seriously injured workers."
Last year, WorkSafeBC enhanced its special care services team to provide more holistic services to severely injured workers. In recent years, the agency has also added to its team of medical specialists, case managers, psychologists and social workers.
Paradis, a musician, said he enjoyed using a new artistic medium to convey his daily routine.
"I was able to just take pictures and see what was stark and visceral and how that would affect the viewer of the photo," he said of the montage, which he put together with his wife, Kara Stanley.
Paradis, who won the BC Rehab Foundation's 2009 Gert Vorsteher Memorial Award for his demonstrated determination for reaching personal independence, said the project gave him focus and energy.
"It was a great outlet," he said. "I was focused and enthusiastic about this project because it's a creative representation of what I'm going through."
