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Australian Story S31E06
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00:16Hi, six years ago we brought you the remarkable story of Ghanem El Shnen. At the time he was
00:24testing the boundaries of bionic medicine after a catastrophic accident while simultaneously
00:29fighting to be reunited with his family who were on the other side of the world.
00:35That story prompted a massive outpouring of support for Ghanem and so we thought you might
00:40be interested to know how things worked out for him.
00:51My story and what happened to me, I need at least a thousand books to fill out.
00:59I don't think anyone could get through what he's got through without some scars.
01:05He just kept getting hit down day after day after day for years.
01:12I'm okay, I'm fine, I'm still alive and I can prove myself that these things never change
01:19me or never make me weak.
01:24Yes, I had a lot of challenges, very difficult time, but I never lose hope.
01:29I'm a wise believer in hope.
01:32In the end, I got what I want.
01:35My dream became true.
01:49Ghanem, Shonen, ready to go?
01:53Yeah, I'm ready.
01:54Good.
01:55Ghanem's case is very unique in many aspects.
01:59Today is the 29th?
02:0029th.
02:01Yeah.
02:02It is a highly complex procedure.
02:04Okay.
02:05And extremely severe.
02:06So your name Ghanem El-Shinan?
02:09Yeah.
02:09Correct?
02:10Your date of birth is 1st of July, 1982?
02:14Yeah.
02:1436 years old?
02:16Mm-hmm.
02:16Okay?
02:17Inshallah.
02:18This kind of surgery is not just intensive from the technical point of view, it requires
02:25significant commitment, significant positive attitude.
02:29We'll look after you.
02:30Take care.
02:30Yeah.
02:31Okay.
02:32It's a long surgery, it's a big surgery, but I'm very optimistic.
02:52Ghanem was a labourer working across various building sites across Sydney.
03:00So on November 6, 2018, he was working on a low-rise apartment building and the job was
03:05almost done, so he was working on the top floor.
03:10The job changed my life.
03:13This job sign, it's very hard.
03:16And even I can't watch the building.
03:19I'll never be even in this area again.
03:23The job he was supposed to be doing was placing steel reinforcement bars into the wall cavity
03:28of this work site.
03:32When I start to put the bars inside the wall, that's all what I remember.
03:38My understanding that Ghanem was holding a metal bar, and somehow that metal bar have touched a live wire.
03:52He's essentially had a huge electric shock, and he's lucky to be alive.
03:57There tends to be an entry point and an exit point for high voltage electricity.
04:03So I think he's conducted through both hands.
04:07Through the left, he's conducted across his chest.
04:09He's conducted up his right arm.
04:12It's blown out the back of his shoulder.
04:19He was brought to our intensive care unit.
04:23He was stable, but he had a large amount of dead tissue on him, and I didn't think his hands
04:32were viable.
04:34I was crying that time.
04:38And I talked to the doctor, please do anything, don't cut my arms.
04:45It was really hard to tell him that he was going to lose both hands, because that's a slow thing
04:51to process for people.
04:52It's an intimate thing.
04:54You can't feed yourself.
04:55You can't wipe your own bottom.
04:57You are reliant on other human beings then.
05:00You have two choices.
05:03Give up, or be positive and looking forward.
05:13Yes, I lost my arms, but I'm still alive.
05:24How are you?
05:25He had six operations here at Concord.
05:28So good to see you.
05:29And he was here for three months.
05:33How are you?
05:36Welcome back.
05:38How are you?
05:40Good to see you.
05:41Good to see you.
05:42One of the biggest jobs when you first got here was crowd control.
05:47We had a sea of people outside ICU.
05:50And then your clever day when you worked out that you could use your great toe to use a mouse
05:56on the floor.
05:57I remember walking in that day and went, he's going to be just fine.
06:04I don't think Gannon would be here if he didn't have a positive attitude.
06:13Ghanim was from southern Iraq.
06:15He had a wife and three young boys and he was working as a policeman.
06:19It was in 2012.
06:22So there's no trust in that time.
06:24Part of Ghanim's role was to take notes and prepare reports as part of interrogations.
06:32When a militia commander was captured and questioned, Ghanim was asked to change the report.
06:38I said to him, I'm not going to do this, this is wrong and this is a mistake.
06:44He said, you will do it.
06:47After Ghanim refused to change the report and the commander was sentenced,
06:52he was threatened that there would be retribution for this.
06:57A bomb was put into his car.
07:00And if it wasn't for his son, Ali, Ghanim probably wouldn't be here today.
07:08My son Ali called me.
07:10He said, Dad, you forgot your phone.
07:14When I back up to back up my phone, the car exploded.
07:22I never forget that time.
07:25My son saved me.
07:32Ghanim knew pretty quickly that he had to get out of Iraq.
07:35But he knew it was too dangerous to take his family with him.
07:39So he resettled them in another area and he began his journey to Australia with the promise to his family
07:46that he would get them there as soon as he could.
07:49It was very hard.
07:53It's really hard when you make a decision to leave your family without no choice.
08:06Ghanim made his way to Indonesia where he got on a leaky fishing boat.
08:13He arrived at Christmas Island September the 5th in 2012.
08:17Only weeks before Ghanim's arrival, the government changed its policies on refugees.
08:22So Ghanim was sent to Nauru.
08:25It was the mental health conditions that were what made Nauru so difficult.
08:33You wake up morning, you find someone hanging himself, someone killing himself.
08:42Eventually the men were offered an opportunity to relocate to Australia as long as they signed a document that said
08:48they would restart their processing.
08:53Ghanim unfortunately signed that document.
08:56It's not a permanent protection visa.
08:59It would mean that he could never bring his family here to be with him.
09:04We don't have any choice.
09:06We have to.
09:14Ghanim was released into the community on a bridging visa.
09:17I moved to Sydney in 2014.
09:21The group of Iraqi men with whom Ghanim was a part of, they seemed to settle reasonably well and a
09:27lot of them found work as carpenters and in the kind of construction work and in trades.
09:33It was very, very nice life, but only one thing, it's make me keep thinking my family to be here.
09:43Ghanim knew he had to get his family out of Iraq and he managed to get them to safety in
09:49Finland where they were welcomed as refugees.
09:53That day it was really make me really happy and my family safe.
10:03It was in early 2017 when Ghanim finally had his interview to see if he'd be accepted as a refugee
10:10and given a protection visa.
10:12I got refused, then we send the letter again and again I get refused.
10:18After the appeal was refused, his only avenue was the Federal Circuit Court.
10:25My hearing with the Federal Court set down for November 15, but then the accident happened 6 November and everything
10:34changed.
10:38Munjid heard about Ghanim through the Iraqi community because they share a common heritage.
10:48So this arm is functional, as you can see you can move it.
10:52Munjid took over Ghanim's care in January and he moved him to Macquarie Hospital.
10:58That's good, good range, which is good.
11:01He then went through another round of surgery to prepare him for the osteointegration surgery.
11:09Osteointegration simply means joining or integrating with the bone.
11:13So it's a connection of an implant with the living bone.
11:17So this is the implant.
11:19There are lots of things to learn, we are putting metal into bone that crosses skin.
11:26And sure, there are cases where it can become complicated.
11:30X-ray.
11:31It's great to have new technology, but it's got to be the patient that says this is worth it.
11:38I might be able to refashion all of this scar.
11:42Ghanim's is a highly complex procedure.
11:44Preserve your function.
11:46Because of the electric burn, because of the nature, it's bilateral, because it's below the elbow.
11:52Are they sensitive? Do you have sensitive?
11:56Yeah.
11:58Okay.
12:03Munjid was encouraging Ghanim to get his operations done as quickly as possible.
12:09But there was no way that Ghanim was going to have any significant operations without having his family by his
12:18side.
12:20To not see my family for seven years is very hard.
12:24Because the life without your family, nothing.
12:31He got some advice in terms of getting the family over here to Australia.
12:38It was a battle.
12:46I was really very close to losing my help.
12:53Till when my lawyer, she's coming to the hospital.
12:58And she said, your family gets approved for a visa to come into Australia.
13:10Maybe I was screaming to be, like, very excited.
13:16I make all Macquarie Hospital wake up.
13:20I was asked by Ghanim to take him to the airport to pick up the family.
13:27When I'm arrived, I try as much I can to control my breathing, my heart, my... I can't.
13:38And then suddenly we heard this little voice.
13:41And it was Ali, his eldest son.
13:46He said, Baba, I go straight away to the end.
13:53And I sit on the floor to hug him.
13:58Then my wife, then the twins again.
14:15That time I feel like, just like, my life, real life just start now.
14:23When I hugged my family, it was like, I hugged everything in the life.
14:29I have everything.
14:32The visitor's visa only allowed the family to stay three months.
14:43Now, my family next to me, I will go with a smile and my eyes closed.
14:50To do my surgery.
14:54Two teams work on each arm separately and it will take possibly ten hours.
15:00I need the platinum diaper.
15:04The left side involve insertion of high tensile strength titanium implants
15:09into the residual bone and connecting these implants into a robotic arm.
15:14The way that that arm is made to work is that the electrodes and software in the arm
15:22can read tiny twitches in the muscles in the remaining arm to open and close the hand.
15:33The right arm is a lot more complex, so we had to go above the elbow.
15:40We have to utilise muscles that are normally not functioning to operate a finger
15:45and regroup them in order to operate the finger again.
15:52Though it's completely different procedure and maybe ten hundred times more complex,
15:59it's the same philosophy.
16:01He thinks about moving his thumb and the thumb will move.
16:06Everything went according to the plan.
16:08It went very well.
16:10Perfect.
16:12That's good.
16:13Yeah.
16:35After the operation, he threw himself into this rehabilitation process.
16:40So we had weights on his arms to build up the muscles in his biceps
16:44so he could eventually have the robotic arms attached to them.
16:50The family just be next to me, this is big care and support.
16:56And the good thing, Ali, my son, he know how he changed all the screws for my hand.
17:05And help me for to do the loading.
17:10I started to play soccer with my kids.
17:13And I was really enjoying it and I'm happy.
17:17Even I don't want to see anyone, just I want to stay like with my kids.
17:21I can't stay disabled because I'm not disabled with my family. Not.
17:26There is only one thing that's really hurting me.
17:29Goal!
17:30I wish my hand there is to hook them like a problem.
17:34But I believe that always what's happening there is reason behind.
17:39The reason is I lost my arms to see my family after seven years.
17:52So a lot of people started to hear about Garnham's story and Troy convinced Garnham to run in the city
17:57to surf together with him.
17:59Three, two, one!
18:04I just thought he still has his legs and what can we do in terms of him making a bit
18:09of a statement.
18:10And he was just like, I'm there, I'm going to do it.
18:13Go Garnham!
18:15Everyone, when they saw me, they were really happy and excited.
18:20You did so well, Garnham.
18:22Some people, they give me some support. Good on you, mate. Keep going.
18:33You did so well.
18:35Yes. I'm going to keep continuing so well.
18:38The incredible thing about that day was at the end of it, Garnham had to say goodbye to his family.
18:48He said waking up the next morning was one of his most horrific moments that he can remember.
18:56Don't know how he did it.
18:57I mean, how do you go into a house that was full of laughter and children and noise to nothing?
19:06It was a very difficult time for him.
19:10He was not in a good spot after they left.
19:12It was quite noticeable.
19:23After weeks of pretty intense physio, Garnham was ready to try out the robotic arms and I think there was
19:31a lot of excitement but a lot of nerves around whether he would be able to use them, how they
19:36would function.
19:37Very good.
19:38Yeah.
19:39And we'll plug you in.
19:42I tell you the truth, the first time I was a little bit nervous.
19:46Up here on Garnham we have a custom made cuff that houses eight pairs of electrodes that pick up the
19:53muscle movement that Garnham performs.
19:55The software allows us to assign those EMG patterns to certain movements on the wrist and on the hand.
20:03So if Garnham thinks about moving his palm down and activates the muscles in his arm that used to do
20:11that when he still had a hand, we should see the hand moving down.
20:15Maybe you can do that.
20:16Garnham.
20:20Excellent.
20:22When he asked me, open your hand.
20:24Actually, when I open my hand, I use my old hand, you know.
20:30That's the nerve is still working.
20:32So just I feel it.
20:33I open my hand.
20:35So I'll get you to open your hand.
20:39Excellent.
20:40And just close on his back.
20:41Mentally, it is very exhausting for Garnham to learn all these movements.
20:50Operating a prosthetic arm is mentally extremely fatiguing.
20:57Usually when I finish from the training, straight away I go to bed like about two hours to get a
21:05wrist.
21:05You feel thirsty.
21:07Have some water.
21:08Good play.
21:10Well done.
21:13So far Garnham has proven to us that whatever you throw at him, he will work with and he exceeded
21:19all our expectations.
21:24We're running out of water.
21:26It was amazing.
21:27The first time in my drink, wore all by myself.
21:30Cool.
21:31Yeah.
21:37And also, I've eaten chocolate.
21:42That's okay.
21:43Get the wrist.
21:44Oh, you can rotate the wrist as well if you want.
21:48Can you reach the back of your teeth?
21:51I'm really, I'm very happy and excited to use my hand normally again.
21:55And I feel I'm very close to using it like normal.
21:58Yeah.
22:01All what I need just to be in one place and safe and simple with my family.
22:11High five.
22:13I'm still have hope.
22:15I never lost my hope.
22:19If I lost my hope, I'm not here right now.
22:30I've been in limbo for a long time.
22:35Since last five years, I have nothing to know what's going to happen.
22:44Did I will get a visa or no?
22:50Garnham's best chance of staying in Australia was a permanent residency visa.
22:55And, you know, he'd always been given the confidence that there was going to be some kind of intervention at
23:01a ministerial level.
23:02Given the unique circumstances that applied to him.
23:09I received a call from my case manager and immigration department.
23:14And he said,
23:16Are you ready to come to the office Monday?
23:22I went to the office and that guy is coming down and he said,
23:26Congratulations, Ghanim. You've become a repairman resident.
23:29Oh, my God.
23:33I can't describe any words.
23:37I'm allowed to get in a passport.
23:39You're allowed to apply sponsor for your family.
23:43And I did this straight away.
23:47The family, they got a residency in Australia.
23:51And I start preparing all the furniture for them.
23:54I'm very excited.
23:56Finally, they will live with me forever.
23:59So, I try to do my best.
24:02It's a short time.
24:09Excited.
24:11I find the house.
24:16Usually in our culture, like most of this stuff, the wife done this.
24:21But I already spoken to her and I said, please leave me enjoy this time.
24:26Even if you need to change anything, I don't care. It's fine.
24:30Leave me enjoy this a moment.
24:32I haven't got this feeling almost 12 years.
24:38All right, Jörg.
24:40This is the dining table.
24:42Okay?
24:43We will have all love us together in one table.
24:51It's never happened before.
24:53Okay?
24:54I will sit in here, my wife and all my lovely boys around us.
25:02It's amazing.
25:03It's really amazing.
25:07Ghanim's arms, whilst they're incredible technology, his robotic arms are extremely heavy.
25:13And more recently, he's been given a pair of synthetic arms, which are a lot lighter.
25:21Hello.
25:22Oh, how are you going?
25:23Good, how are you?
25:24And how are things going?
25:26Everything going well, but only I have a little bit of a problem with the right arms.
25:31Still completing of the weights.
25:33It's heavy.
25:34Too heavy.
25:34Yeah.
25:35Should we just check out if the left one is working since I put the new battery in?
25:41Yeah.
25:41And then have a look at this one as well?
25:43No.
25:43Okay.
25:44All right.
25:45You tell me when it's in.
25:46One, two, three, that's it.
25:48Okay, that's it.
25:48Okay.
25:50So the left arm was fitted in 2019 and it's working quite well.
26:00The battery seems to be working.
26:02It's a good thing.
26:02Yeah.
26:04The right one we started working on, it took a bit longer in 2020.
26:08It's obviously a lot more complex with a shorter amputation level.
26:15We've discussed a few of the challenges, particularly around the right arm with GANIM and the main
26:22hurdles currently are the weight and just the cognitive energy that is required for GANIM
26:28to control the right arm.
26:30So we're thinking of simplifying the setup.
26:34There's always a lot of learning and GANIM is very open to anything that can help him get more function.
26:53When we arrived at the airport, I saw my dad, so I left all the packages and everything.
26:59I ran to my dad and hugged him.
27:02My mom told us, don't run.
27:04Yousef will go first to hug his dad.
27:07When yousef finished, we ran to our dad and hugged him.
27:13This is a very incredible result.
27:17My family and I in one place.
27:28Waking up knowing that his wife and his boys are in the same house as him,
27:32it was like the start of a new life for GANIM.
27:37They understand finally this is true.
27:40They will live in with the father forever.
27:43Let's have food.
27:46What are you feeling when you move to level two?
27:50Feeling that it's so easy.
27:52I don't think you are going to have any problems in living through.
27:57Yeah, I'm okay with it to be in Australia.
28:00I was a little bit nervous at first, but now it's okay for me.
28:06In school, everything is so easy that I'm getting full marks and everything.
28:12GANIM's kids can already speak three or four languages.
28:16They're outgoing kids.
28:18And if they've got any sense of GANIM's character and resourcefulness,
28:23they're going to be just fine.
28:26Yes!
28:27Yes!
28:28Yes!
28:30We don't care where we need to be.
28:32We need to just be together.
28:34He's a strong man.
28:36And never back down, never what?
28:38Never give up.
28:41Most of the people who are really close to me,
28:43when I lose my both arms, they thought like, I'm gone.
28:46That's it.
28:47The life ends.
28:49It's very important for me to never think what you have lost.
28:58Always you think what you have achieved.
29:01Yes!
29:03My advice to everyone, if something happened in your life,
29:09this is not the end.
29:11Find out how you fix it.
29:13Find out how you're working on it.
29:15Believe yourself as much you can.
29:17Yeah.
29:18Don't feel them down.
29:19And believe me,
29:21one day,
29:23all your dreams
29:25will become true.
29:32Slowing on your break,
29:34and then teasing round.
29:35Yeah, on your break.
29:36Once again, we're going to get that downhill run.
29:39I'm GANIM, Ali.
29:40I'm driving over.
29:42I just need to take the balance of the steering, you know?
29:45Thanks, man.
29:45See ya?
29:45Thanks, man.
29:46Yeah!
29:46See ya.
29:47See ya!
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