A firefighter with the City of Thompson who was injured on the job five years ago is still struggling with a serious neck injury and trying to find his place in the workforce.
On Dec. 18, 2004, Rick Morris and a partner worked their way to the upstairs part of the building that had been damaged by fire in the Princeton area of the city and decided that to proceed further would be unsafe. Morris turned to leave and was on the first floor of the building when the second floor and the roof collapsed, falling down on Morris' head.
Since then Morris has undergone MRI scans, CT scans, physiotherapy and chiropractics and is still suffering with extreme neck pain, for which he is now medicated. His specialist in Winnipeg has told him that there is nothing any doctor can do for him because surgery to fix the problem in his neck would be too risky.
Not only has it affected Morris' personal life, with young children at home and the inability, as a result of his injury, to turn to talk to people, go out in public due to the risk he might be jostled or bumped, drive, sit and even sleep, it has also affected his career in a devastating way.
According to Morris, after the accident happened he contacted the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) right away. He was off for the first eight months and every year since he has been off work for two three months a year to rest. He currently works inside the fire hall at the City of Thompson but is unable to go out and fight fires or do any physically demanding work due to his injury.
Morris says one of the biggest struggles so far since the accident has been trying to get the WCB to lay out officially what he can and cannot do on the job and make a list of restrictions, be they temporary or permanent, so he can move forward with his career.
"My doctor here in town has helped out as much as he can, but what he puts on paper the WCB has to make the final decision onthey're the ones who hold me up, they're the ones who say I can't do this and I can't do that, but nobody's really said what I can do," Morris explains, adding that his doctor says that although he can't sit, drive or do a few things for long periods of time, as long as he can move around frequently he will be able to perform certain types of jobs.
Morris says although he doesn't like to point fingers or blame anyone, waiting for the WCB to make a final decision on what he can and can't do at work has been frustrating.
"It doesn't seem that I can go anywhere. That's not saying that I don't try - it just seems like I hit a brick wall everywhere I go," he says. "I've turned down different things because I need something that says what I can and can't do."
Warren Preece, a spokesperson with the WCB based out of Winnipeg, says although he can't comment specifically on Morris' case, musculoskeletal injuries, which he suffers from, can often be complicated because the injury evolves over time.
"Sometimes that's a very time consuming process, to come down with a set of restrictions. Sometimes restrictions are temporary, which is our goaland in some cases they end up becoming permanent restrictions, in which case as long as you live you will never be able to do a specific thing."
Preece also points out that although in the vast majority of cases people are able to return to work quickly, more serious injuries are challenging and take longer to resolve. Sometime individuals cannot return to their specific job and enter into vocational rehabilitation, where the WCB attempts to train workers for a new career path designed to work around their injury.
Morris says that he is still hopeful for the future but remains at a standstill until the WCB makes an official statement on his restrictions. He points out that the new management at the City of Thompson has been a great help to him during his recovery and continues to be there for him while he waits to hear from the WCB.
