Life has thrown its fair share of challenges at Roma’s Lee Pope, but she chooses to look on the bright side.
And she was soaring high when Angel Flight chopper pilot Nigel Fotheringham ferried the 62-year-old to Brisbane for a visit with an orthopaedic specialist.
“I’m very appreciative of Angel Flight,” Lee said.
“I think it’s a marvellous service, I really do. I couldn’t speak highly enough of it because they are all volunteers and they do what they can.”
It wasn’t Lee’s first Angel Flight and it probably won’t be her last.
Diagnosed with AARSKOG syndrome, an extremely rare disease that affects a person’s height, muscles, skeleton, genitals and appearance, Lee is riddled with osteoarthritis and her mobility limited by spinal degeneration.
“That syndrome is very rare and only one per cent of the population in Australia have it at a push and I’m even a rarer example of that rare group.
“I’ve probably pushed it too much by living on anti-inflammatories over the years and the window of opportunity for surgery on my back has closed; no surgeon will touch it.”
With her mobility severely limited, Lee relies on her support worker Lesley and the NDIS to make life bearable.
Living in a cabin behind her adopted sister’s home, she is waiting for modifications to be approved for her dwelling and a motor for her wheelchair.
“When it works, the NDIS is fabulous and I’ve got nothing but high praise, but it takes a long time to put things in place,” Lee said.
“I’ve got the wheelchair, but the NDIS have to approve the motor because it’s in a higher risk category … so it’s sitting there.
“I’m also waiting on a builder to start the home modifications, which means I don’t have the room to swing a cat because I can’t even get the walker in there so that’s making life pretty difficult at the moment.
“When it all happens, it will be fantastic.”
Lee admits she’s learned she has to pick her battles after some hard life lessons.
“At one time in my life I felt like I’d lived two or three lifetimes because my mantra in life was to be a chameleon; I tried to be what everybody wanted me to be,” she said.
“In truth, I lost sight of myself and, at the end of the day, I am who I am today … and I just want my nice, peaceful life.”
She has found that pottering around in her garden dominated by hardy hibiscus, surrounded by her mini dachshunds Champagne, Contessa, Khanda and Moses.
“You’ve got to have something to get you out of bed in the morning,” she said of her dogs.
“I prefer to look at the glass half full rather than half empty, but the garden’s looking a little bit worse for wear with all the frosts,” she said.
“Everything is in big pots so they can be moved around because the ground out here is abysmal and it helps because the little dogs can’t get in there and dig things out.”
