Scott's story
Cleaning a shaft in a lathe - it was a routine task that Scott Mifsud had done hundreds of times in his long career as a fitter and turner.
Support for when life gets tough
When life gets hard – whether with financial stress, health concerns or personal struggles – there’s help and support available.
Scott works at Daradgee Welding Works, a family-owned business located just outside of Innisfail, that specialises in fabricating agricultural equipment for the banana industry.
'Split second'
It only took moments for the experienced tradesman’s hand to be pulled into the machine tool.
“Split second, my hand got dragged into the machine and I just remember looking down at my hand and yelling and I could see that my thumb was gone,” Scott said.
Scott was airlifted to Brisbane, where doctors operated overnight to reattach his thumb to his hand.
His surgery and treatment were approved by WorkCover straight away, as well as his wages while he was off work, which Scott says brought peace of mind to him and his family.
However, while he was in hospital, Scott said he started to notice he wasn’t feeling like himself.
A different perspective
“In hospital I felt really like, down and I didn't want to see anyone. This is probably after a couple of weeks,” he explained.
Through WorkCover, Scott was able to access adjustment to injury counselling sessions. This support is available to workers to help get life back on track, even if they have a physical injury.
“It's just good to have someone else to talk to about things, just to have someone else's perspective on things and it’s given me tools... to cope with how I was feeling at the time,” he said.
WorkCover case manager Kristy Mitchell said it has been “unreal” to see Scott's motivation to get back to work and how he has maximised the various tools on offer to aid in his recovery.
“He really took advantage of adjustment to injury counselling and had a really good psychologist that worked with us to get him that treatment that he needed,” Kristy said.
'It's great to have him back'
Scott was keen to get back to work and a sense of normality after his injury, so he went back to work on part-time hours initially, before building up his tasks and hours as things got better.
“I’ve known Scott for a long time, little town, you know everybody,” Jason Sapuppo, Scott’s employer and the Director of Daradgee Welding Works, said.
“I class him as a mate and a friend and it was just great having him here, just to be able to walk around and watch what people are doing and give them advice.
“He was doing a bit of quoting for me and he's sort of good with all that stuff, as well as being a good tradesman.
“It’s great to have him back.”
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