Leo's story
Learn how Leo has managed and approached his neck and shoulder musculoskeletal pain, post surgery.
Leo moved to Australia from Burma in 1998. He’s married with a very young baby.
He is a diesel mechanic by trade, but has changed jobs recently, and is now running his own business as a tow truck driver.
Leo fell head first into a dump truck, hurting his neck and shoulder. He went on to have shoulder surgery and some time off work to recover. His shoulder pain persisted and he has had a lot of cortisone injections, but these weren’t very helpful.
“It was the most miserable time of my life…nothing worked for me. Medicines dulled the pain but didn’t take it away.”
Leo realised things needed to change when he visited his nephew:
“I went and saw my nephew and hurled him up in the air, I got shooting pain…I couldn’t hold him. I realised, wow, if I can’t do that with my nephew, imagine when I have my child. I was in a very dark place.”
Leo changed how he approached managing his pain: “I told myself I gotta move on.”
He made the decision to change his job to a tow truck driver and this allowed him to better manage his pain. His family life also played a big part in his path through pain.”
“My son helped me get where I am now. I have a focus in life.
Leo now stays active, paces his activity and exercises to manage his mood and relieve stress….
He enjoys life and his family is key to that “…be around the ones you love.”