Having one leg, half a foot and being bound to a wheelchair has restricted Gary Wheeler, 64, of Birkdale with getting a job.
Yet despite these obvious physical impairments, on December 17 last year, Mr Wheeler was formally advised by Centrelink that he no longer qualified for a disability pension.
The letter said Mr Wheeler did not have the required 20 points under the Social Security Act of 1991 to receive the support, following assessment in September that deemed him to have only had 15 points.
“I can’t believe there would be a system like this in a case that is as obvious as mine,” he said.
The news has shocked and devastated a man who has given a full working life and would love to still remain in the work force.
Mr Wheeler was first given a disability pension in 2009 when he had his left leg removed below the knee, due to diabetes complications. At this point, he had to give up his work as a boiler maker, but started working as a security guard once he had been rehabilitated and learned to walk with a prosthesis.
His mobility issues were exacerbated in May 2013 when half of his right foot was removed. Mr Wheeler worked his last shift in May, 2015 due to ulcers on the stump of his leg which caused great pain with his prosthesis and forced him into a wheelchair.
“To stand up was just terrible. I had to stop work and since then I have been wheelchair bound.
“It’s bad enough that you can’t work, but to be told you don’t qualify for a disability pension is something else,” Mr Wheeler said.
“I have worked all my life and to be honest, I have never been sick in my life. I discovered I was a diabetic about 15 years ago and on that day I stopped smoking and I stopped drinking. I have four injections a day, but that wasn’t enough to save the leg.”
The situation also puts Mr Wheeler in a Catch-22 situation.
“I ride a motor scooter and this is illegal if you are not disabled. Yet Centrelink is telling me I am not disabled enough to receive support. Without the scooter, how else do I go down the street?” he said.
“It’s hard to find a job when you have one leg and are in a wheelchair. You meet blokes at the pub who are on a disability pension and it’s hard to tell what’s wrong. I think my disability is pretty obvious.”
“The whole situation makes you hopping mad. But even worse is that I can no longer stand toe tapping music. You’ve got to look on the funny side,” Mr Wheeler said.
Mr Wheeler was told his review was dismissed on January 14. He will face an appeal tribunal in March, as his final bid towards gaining disability status.
It makes you hopping mad.
