Life changing reconstructive surgery for David.

David Shaun Kapi hails from Rabaul, East New Britain Province in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and is now, based in the capital, Port Moresby. Having only just turned 50, he’s got a challenging story to share.

David’s current condition has worsened, and he is currently on unpaid sick leave; having used all leave balances and all entitlements under his company-funded health insurance. Reconstructive surgery has been recommended by a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in PNG. The first surgery required has already been funded by colleagues, but there are considerable future expenses such as rehabilitation, carers' costs, living expenses, and adjustments at his residence.

DAVIDS STORY

David has always been an active, sporty man loving basketball as a main hobby and worked as an Operations Officer with the Papua New Guinea (PNG) National Disaster Centre up until 1998.

When David was 24 years old, while conducting field assessments, he was a passenger in a helicopter that crashed in the Western Province of PNG. David was medically evacuated to Daru Hospital in Western Province, PNG where he was initially assessed as having a critical injury; therefore, he was further evacuated to Cairns in Australia.

David was admitted to intensive care in Cairns Hospital before being transferred to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane by Royal Flying Doctor Service. In Brisbane, David received emergency surgery in the spinal injury unit with his diagnosis that he had a permanent spinal cord injury and was now to be paraplegic. He was in hospital in Brisbane for a further eight months where he undertook physiotherapy and occupational therapy, before returning home to PNG. David has now been a paraplegic for 25 years following this life-changing accident in 1998.

Those who know David know him to be a strong and resilient person and so it was no surprise to learn that in 2014, David applied for and received an Australian Awards scholarship to study Certificate III in Business Administration in Canberra. While in ACT and outside of his studies, David joined the State Emergency Service (SES) volunteer program supporting the control room for critical incidents, where he actively served until his return to PNG in 2017.

After David returned to PNG, while he was delivering a job application to a potential employer at a local shopping center in Port Moresby, by chance he met an expatriate whose company was looking for someone with David’s control room operations experience - David was hired by Abt Associates a month later and he’s been with the company in the five years since.

Behind David’s effervescent smile and friendly persona, we know he has experienced considerable challenges through his condition in the last 12 months. The muscles in his lower body have shrunk due to his paraplegia; this has resulted in no fat or muscle to cushion his buttocks and upper legs while sitting. Since late 2019, David has suffered pressure sores on his buttocks and upper legs that have required surgery.

David’s colleagues are keen to have him fit, well and back on the team.