By YASEMIN TALAT
THE last year has not been easy for Hoppers Crossing resident Caryn Hearsch.
Last May Ms Hearsch was involved in an accident, where she slipped and injured herself at work.
She sustained a shoulder injury and has been out of work since.
She hoped to go back to work this year but the 57 year-old was not offered her same job back.
“I feel so lost and alone I don’t feel I have any worth anymore because my job was such a huge part of my life and since that’s been taken away I just don’t feel I have a purpose,” Ms Hearsch said.
Ms Hearsch has eagerly been trying to get back into the workforce, applying for up to 60 different jobs, but has had no luck.
“I need to work financially and mentally. I need that outside stimulation,” she said.
“For 40 years I’ve got up to work to go to a full time job,” she said.
“I expected to stay at my job for the rest of my life.”
“All I did was walk down the corridor to my office as I had been doing previously, I slipped and my whole life changed.”
Ms Hearsch said her injury affected her life in many ways but she hoped to help make a difference for others.
She has decided to start a support group for others in similar situations.
“You are financially penalised, you cannot work, you become depressed, you lose friends and even family because they cannot cope with this new person you have become,” she said. “It’s just damn hard every day.
“I thought there must be other people out there who feel the same way.
“Anyone who is recovering from an injury can come along and have a coffee with people who have been through the same thing.”
The new Workers Connect Support Group will meet for the first time on Wednesday 27 November at 10 am at Donut King in Werribee Plaza for more information call Caryn on 0408 371 294.
