Remploy helps Sarah back to work

When an horrific car crash robbed Sarah Townsend-Dowle of the use of her right arm it was only the start of the darkest period of her life.

Coming to terms with the loss of her right arm and hand was difficult enough for the former professional opera singer and high-flying bi-lingual Personal Assistant who had worked in mainland Europe and the UK. But Sarah faced even more heartache.

Months of treatment followed the accident. She lost her job and income. Financial strain mounted and Sarah’s self-confidence began to plummet as she failed to find a job.

As months passed without the prospect of any kind of job, Sarah -normally a confident and out-going person - slipped into depression, despair and anxiety.

Sarah, who lived at Lincoln at the time of the accident, said: It was like a black hole sucking me down. I desperately wanted to work but I was getting no-where. The longer it went on the worse I was getting and I had convinced myself that my arm was useless, I was useless and no-one would ever offer me a job.

Not only that, I had lost all of my confidence and felt I could never work again and that my whole future was just a terrible mess.

Then an interview at a Jobcentre changed everything. Sarah was put in contact with Remploy, Britain’s largest provider of job opportunities for disabled people.

She was introduced to Gill Ledger from Remploy’s Interwork division, a wing of the organisation which aims to support disabled people back into mainstream work.

Sarah said: At last I found someone who understood everything and helped re-build my self-confidence. She convinced me to apply for a job with B.T. in Lincoln and was very supportive, even after I got the job.

Recently Sarah and her husband moved to Witham St Hughs, Lincolnshire, and she got in touch with Remploy again. Sarah now has a higher skilled job working for Vodafone.

Sarah is still having physiotherapy and occupational therapy and has to visit a London specialist every six months for further medical treatment to her arm. She said: I will never regain full movement of my arm and fingers, but a couple of my fingers are starting to claw and I have gone deaf in my left ear due to the accident.

Remploy really helped me. Without their help I don’t know if I would have found the courage to go back into the workplace. But I’m so glad I did.

For more information about how Remploy Interwork can help people find jobs call 0845 845 2211