IT was a horror beer keg explosion that cost him his left arm. However, despite all he has been through, Jye Parker is using one word to describe his fortunes: lucky.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“They reckon anybody else, if I wasn’t so fit and young, would have definitely not survived,” the 23-year-old said on Wednesday.
“I’m feeling lucky to be alive.
“It’s difficult to do the things I love to do, especially surfing, playing video games and playing the guitar.
“But I’m still here – I’m still able to enjoy a beer or look out the window and enjoy the view.”
Mr Parker left John Hunter Hospital on Monday for the first time since the accident.
He’s returned to the home he shares with his father – the Bar Beach Bowling Club greenkeeper’s house.
It overlooks the ocean and is just metres away from where Mr Parker was seriously injured less than two weeks ago.
A regular employee at the Hotel Delany, he was helping out at the bowling club, as he had done many times before, when the incident happened.
“I do remember looking over and seeing my arm afterwards,” Mr Parker said.
“There was a lot of bone showing and it was just red with blood.
“That’s the one image I saw.
“I woke up in hospital wondering why they’d taken my arm; it was a lot to take in.”
Mr Parker said he was still coming to terms with not having his arm.
“I’m feeling sore and every time I look in the mirror it is a big shock,” he said.
“I’m not feeling like a full person.
“They’ve given me some rehabilitation techniques but they give me phantom pains.
“Yesterday I could feel a spider or something crawling up my arm – it’s mainly pins and needles and pain.
“It’s apparently good that’s happening because it works better for a prosthetic limb.”
Friends and family are currently rallying behind the scenes to help Mr Parker with what is going to be an expensive recovery.
He does not have private health insurance and the family have been told a good prosthetic limb on its own will cost around $100,000.
“I initially was hesitant about charity,” Mr Parker said.
“But the people who have put this together, I’m so appreciative because I’m realising it is going to be a long road ahead and I’m going to need all the support I can.”
On October 31 a “Jye Gantic” event will be held at Newcastle Museum to try and raise funds for Mr Parker.
It’s been put on by Sprout Dining owners Jacque and Tom Brown, who have known Mr Parker for many years.
Mr Parker’s uncle has also started up an online fund-raiser which has so far received almost $9000 in donations.
“It’s amazing how much support there is, especially from the hospitality industry in Newcastle,” Mr Parker said.
He said he was touched by how many people visited him while he was in hospital.
“It was non-stop, it was good for my morale and it was what kept me positive in the first couple of days,” he said.
Mr Parker, who has worked in hospitality since he was 16, said he was now looking to start “a new chapter” in his life.
“I’m moving on from hospitality, I’m going to do something else,” he said.
“I was thinking about studying next year, I’m not sure what yet because I’m just focusing on recovering.
“I want to make the most of being here.”
► To donate: fundly.com/help-jye-on-his-long-road-ahead
