Shelley Trenholm knows all too well how quickly life can change.
Shelley was a successful career woman in her early 50s when complications from a drug she had been prescribed triggered a cascading health crisis that landed her in the hospital.
Not long after the initial health crisis, Shelley experienced a brain bleed and then a stroke. Now, at 56 years of age, she is living alone in a Fredericton apartment on supplemental oxygen and dependent on personal care workers.
“I wouldn’t have thought in a million years that Ability New Brunswick could have provided something like that for me.”
– shelley trenholm
In the five years since Shelley first became ill, her life has changed dramatically.
“It is just unbelievable when you go from being an independent career woman, physically and mentally able to do whatever you want, and then all of a sudden, you are flat on your back and stuck in a hospital for five months,” she says. “And you lose everything. It is the most horrifying thing a person can go through.”
For Shelley, the help provided by Ability New Brunswick has brought hope and comfort.
After contacting us at the suggestion of the New Brunswick Extra Mural Program, we’ve been able to connect her to vital programs and support.
She is emotional when she talks about how important Ability New Brunswick rehabilitation counsellor Rebecca Graham is to her daily life.
“Rebecca is everything to me. There is not a time when I reached out that she has not been able to help me,” Shelley says.
Rebecca assisted Shelley in accessing the United Way Emergency Community Support fund for help with food and assistive devices, and navigated other programs to make life easier.
Recently Rebecca secured funds for an expensive mouth guard for Shelley, who has lost the protective cartilage in her jaw.
“I wouldn’t have thought in a million years that Ability New Brunswick could have provided something like that for me,” Shelley says. “Now I can actually get some sleep, and I don’t have as much pain.
“I couldn’t imagine not having Ability New Brunswick and Rebecca in my life.”