I didn’t choose BaptistCare All Saints, BaptistCare All Saints chose me
With a focus on providing as much support as you need to live independently for longer, BaptistCare retirement villages also deliver much-needed respite and newfound freedom for couples and individuals with declining health issues.
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24 June 2022
Stories
| Retirement Living
A key motivation for retirement includes health protection and ease of living that purpose-built retirement villages offer.
With a focus on providing as much support as you need to live independently for longer, BaptistCare retirement villages also deliver much-needed respite and newfound freedom for couples and individuals with declining health issues.
This was the case for Neville and Jude Maxwell, who arrived at BaptistCare All Saints in the heart of Newcastle three years ago. About 30 years prior, Jude had a cardiac arrest that left her with disability after a coma. Against the advice of the medical contingency, Nev – an engineer – took his wife home.
“We’d been married 30 years, and I loved the woman dearly and I wasn’t going to abandon her. She couldn’t walk, she couldn’t talk… but I got her walking within four weeks. She improved slowly over the years with the help of a brain injury specialist. Jude couldn’t do some things, but we travelled a bit, we could communicate, we would chat,” said Nev.
BaptistCare At Home carers helped Nev give Judy the care she needed. Judy’s coordinator, Connie, could see the stress the couple’s living situation caused in navigating a second storey dwelling and chaos from abusive relations. She asked Nev if they’d consider moving. BaptistCare All Saints at New Lambton had a ground floor, wheelchair accessible, room for two available with a vibrant village life.
“I said for Judy’s sake we would, and we agreed to. Two days later, six or eight ladies turned up at our Wyong property and packed us up. A few days later they came back with a van and moved us to New Lambton. There was a huge sense of relief and freedom,” said Nev.
Judy thrived in the vibrant community. She enjoyed going to David Jones just ten minutes away, and she would tell Nev, ‘I love it here, Nev. We’re millionaires. This is a beautiful place.’
Raised on a farm, Nev’s work ethic has always been strong. From night school to mandatory military service, to working on the docks and free diving. As an engineer, he’s worked on factory and construction sites, and ran his own commercial special effects company for film productions. “Since I was sixteen, I’ve trained in martial arts until I was about 50. Safe to say I can get away with enjoying ‘drinkypoos’ with my wife and that is what we both enjoyed very much at BaptistCare All Saints.”
“It was a tradition for us to do together when I was home from work. When we first moved to BaptistCare, Daphne, one of the residents, had organised drinkypoos on the first Thursday of every month up in the courtyard. And on the third gathering, Judy got up and said, ‘You are all wonderful people,’ and she told everyone how much she enjoyed their company.”
Last year, Judy passed peacefully in her sleep and is greatly missed by our BaptistCare All Saints community.
“I am absolutely, totally and eternally grateful to BaptistCare because they are lifesavers. They are head and shoulders above the rest,” said Nev.
Passionate about carer’s rights and the immense role they take on in caring for a loved one, Nev has actively campaigned for change, and was the President of the Federation of Carers for ten years. “We got on TV, we got on the radio programs, and the newspapers. We got some legislation changed to benefit carers. The main thing I would have liked to have got done would have been to get better financial help for them,” said Nev.
“My dear old Dad use to say, ‘Was the world a better place because you lived?’ We grew up to believe our job was to be of service to other people. I’m feeling I’m almost ready to be of service to others again.”
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