- 6 hours ago
Australian Story - Season 31 - Episode 06: What Doesn't Kill You - Ghanim Al Shnen
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00:16Hi, six years ago we brought you the remarkable story of Ghanim El Shnen. At the time he was
00:23testing the boundaries of bionic medicine after a catastrophic accident while simultaneously
00:30fighting 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 Ghanim and so we thought you
00:40might be 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 me or never
01:20make me weak. Yes I had a lot of challenges very difficult time but I never lose hope. I'm always
01:30believe in hope. In the end I got what I want. My dream become true.
01:49Ghanim, Shani, ready to go? Yeah I'm ready. Good. Ghanim's case is very unique in many aspects.
01:59Today is the 29th. It is a highly complex procedure. Okay. And extremely severe.
02:07So your name Ghanim Al-Shinan? Yeah. Correct. Your date of birth is 1st of July 1982. Yeah. 36 years
02:15old.
02:16Okay. Inshallah. This kind of surgery is not just intensive from the technical point of view.
02:23It requires significant commitment, significant positive attitude. I'll look after you. Take care.
02:30Yeah. Okay. It's a long surgery. It's a big surgery. But I'm very optimistic.
02:37I'm very optimistic.
02:52Ghanim 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 the job changed my life this job sign it's very
03:15hard and even I can't watch the building I never be even in this area again the job he was
03:24supposed
03:24to be doing was placing steel reinforcement bars into the the wall cavity of this work site
03:31and I start to put the bus inside the wall that's all what I remember my understanding that Ganem was
03:41holding him a metal bar and somehow that metal bar have touched a life wire he's essentially had a
03:53huge electric shock and he's lucky to be alive there tends to be an entry point in an exit point
04:01for high-voltage electricity so I think he's conducted through both hands through the left
04:07he's conducted across his chest he's conducted up his right arm it's blown out the back of his shoulder
04:19he was brought to our intensive care unit he was stable but he had a large amount of dead tissue
04:28on him and I didn't think his hands were viable I was crying that time
04:38I talked to the doctor please do anything don't cut my arms it was really hard to tell him that
04:48he
04:48was going to lose both hands because that's a slow thing to process for people it's an intimate thing
04:54you can't feed yourself you can't wipe your own bottom you are reliant on other human beings then
05:00you have to choice give up or be positive and looking forward yes I lost my arms but I'm still
05:16alive
05:24he had six operations here at Concord and he was here for three months
05:36welcome back
05:39good to see you good to see you
05:42one of the biggest jobs when you first got here was crowd control we had a sea of people
05:49outside ICU and then your clever day when you worked out that you could use your great toe
05:54to use a mouse on the floor I remember walking in that day and went yeah he's gonna be just
06:00fine
06:04I don't think Ghanim would be here if he didn't have a positive attitude
06:13Ghanim was from southern Iraq he had a wife and three young boys and he was working as a policeman
06:19it was in 2012 so there is no trust in that time part of Ghanim's role was to take notes
06:27and prepare
06:28reports as part of interrogations when a militia commander was captured and questioned Ghanim was
06:36asked to change the report I said to him I'm not gonna do this this is wrong and this is
06:42a mistake
06:44he said you will do it after Ghanim refused to change the report and the commander was sentenced
06:51if he was threatened that there would be retribution for this a bomb was put into his car and if
07:01it
07:01wasn't for his son Ali Ghanim probably wouldn't be here today my son Ali called me he said dad you
07:11forget your phone when I back up to back up my phone the car exploded I never forget that time
07:23my son saved me
07:32Ghanim knew pretty quickly that he had to get out of Iraq but he knew it was too dangerous to
07:38take his
07:39family with him so he resettled them in another area and he began his journey to Australia with
07:45the promise to his family that he would get them there as soon as he could it was very hard
07:50it's
07:53really hard when you they make this to leave your family without no choice
08:06Ghanim made his way to Indonesia where he got on a leaky fishing boat he arrived at Christmas Island
08:15September the 5th in 2012 only weeks before Ghanim's arrival the government changed its policies on
08:21refugees so Ghanim was sent to Nauru it was the mental health conditions that were what made Nauru so
08:32difficult you wake up morning you find someone hanging himself someone killing himself eventually
08:43the men were offered an opportunity to relocate to Australia as long as they sign a document that
08:48said they would restart their processing Ghanim unfortunately signed that document it's not a
08:57permanent protection visa it would mean that he could never bring his family here to be with him
09:04we don't have any choice we have to
09:14Ghanim was released into the community on a bridging visa I moved to Sydney in 2014 the group of Iraqi
09:22men
09:23with whom Ghanim was a part of they seemed to settle reasonably well and a lot of them found work
09:28as
09:28carpenters and in the kind of construction work and in trades it was very very nice life but only one
09:37thing it's make me keep thinking my family to be here Ghanim you we had to get his family out
09:46of Iraq
09:46and he managed to get them to safety in Finland where they were welcomed as refugees that day it was
09:54really make me really happy and my family safe it was in early 2017 when Ghanim finally had his
10:07interview to see if he'd be accepted as a refugee and given a protection visa I got refused then we
10:14send
10:15the letter again and again I get refused after the appeal was refused his only avenue was the Federal
10:23Circuit Court my hearing with the Federal Court sit down for November 15 but then the accident happened
10:326 November and everything changed
10:38Munjit heard about Ghanim through the Iraqi community because they share a common heritage
10:47so this arm is functional as you can see you can move it okay Munjit took over Ghanim's care in
10:55January
10:55and he moved him to Macquarie Hospital that's good good range which is good he then went through
11:02another round of surgery to prepare him for the osteointegration surgery osteointegration simply
11:09means joining or integrating with the bone so it's a connection of an implant with the living bone so
11:17this is the implant there 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 x-ray it's great to have new technology
11:34but it's got to be the patient that says this is worth it I might be able to refashion all
11:41of this scar
11:41Ghanim's is highly complex procedure and preserve your function because of the electric burn because
11:48of the nature it's bilateral because it's below the elbow are they sensitive do you have sensitive
11:55okay
12:03Munjit was encouraging Ghanim to get his operations done as quickly as possible
12:10but there was no way that Ghanim was going to have any significant operations without having his
12:17family by his side to not see my family for seven years is very hard because the life without your
12:27family nothing he got some advice in terms of getting the family over here to Australia
12:38it was it was it was a battle
12:46i was really very close to lose my help
12:53tell when my lawyer she's coming to my to the hospital and she said your family get approved for a
13:02visa to come into australia
13:10maybe i screaming to be like very excited
13:15i 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 and it was ali his eldest son
13:45he said baba
13:49i go straight away to the end
13:53and i sit on the floor to hug him then 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 hug everything in the life i have everything
14:32the visitors visa only allowed the family to stay three months
14:43now my family next to me i will go with the smile and my eyes close
14:50to the my surgeon
14:54two teams work on each arm separately and it will take possibly 10 hours
15:03the left side involve insertion of high tensile strength titanium implants into the residual bone
15:10and connecting these implants into a robotic arm
15:15the way that that arm is made to work is that the electrodes and software in the arm can read
15:23tiny
15:24twitches in the muscles in the remaining arm to open and close the hand
15:33the right arm is a lot more complex
15:36so we had to go above the elbow
15:40we have to utilize muscles that normally not functioning to operate a finger and regroup them
15:47in order to operate the finger again
15:52though it's completely different procedure and maybe 10 hundred times more complex
15:59it's the same philosophy he think about moving his thumb and the thumb will move
16:06everything went according to the plan went very well
16:14so
16:34after the operation he threw himself into these rehabilitation process
16:40so we had weights on his arms to build up the muscles in his in his biceps so
16:44he could eventually have the robotic arms attached to them the family just be
16:51next to me this is big care and support and the good thing Ali my son he know
16:59how we change all the screws for my hand and tell me for to do the loading
17:10I start play soccer with my kids and I was really enjoy and I'm happy even I don't want to
17:17see
17:18anyone just I want to stay like with my kids I can't say disabled because I'm not disabled with
17:23my family not there is only one thing it's really hurting me I wish my hand there is to hug
17:33them
17:33like a problem but I believe that always what's happening there is reason behind the reason is
17:40I lost my arms to see my family after seven years
17:52so a lot of people started to hear about Ghanem's story and Troy convinced Ghanem to run in the city
17:57surf together with him I just thought he still has his legs and what can we do in terms of
18:08him
18:08making a bit of a statement and he was just like I'm there I'm gonna do it everyone when they
18:16saw me
18:17they they was really happy and excited so well Ghanem some people they give me some support good on you
18:25mate keep keep going
18:33you did so well
18:34yes I'm gonna keep continuing doing well
18:38the incredible thing about that day was at the end of it Ghanem 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 I mean how do you go into a house that was full of laughter
19:00and
19:00children and noise to nothing it was a very difficult time for him he was not in a good
19:10spot after they left it was it was quite noticeable after weeks of pretty intense physio Ghanem was ready
19:27to try out the robotic arms and I think there was a lot of excitement but a lot of nerves
19:33around whether
19:34he would be able to use them how they would function very good yeah and we'll plug you in
19:42I tell you the truth the first time I was a little bit nervous up here on Ghanem we have
19:47a custom-made cuff that houses eight pairs of electrodes that pick up the muscle movement that Ghanem performs the
19:56software allows us to assign those EMG patterns
20:00to certain movements to certain movements to certain movements on the wrist and on the hand so if Ghanem thinks
20:04about moving his arm down and activates the muscles in his arm that used to do that when he still
20:12had a hand we should see the hand moving down maybe you can do that Ghanem
20:21excellent when he asked me open your hand actually when I open my hand I use my old hand you
20:29know
20:29that's the nerve is still working so just I feel it I open my hand so I'll get you to
20:36open your hand
20:39excellent excellent and just close on his back mentally it is very exhausting for Ghanem to to learn all these
20:46all these movements
20:48and you can hold it like that operating 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 to
21:05rest
21:13so far Ghanem has proven to us that whatever you throw at him he will work with and he exceeded
21:18all our expectations
21:26it's what's amazing the first time I drink water by myself
21:37and also I eat in chocolate
21:42it's okay get the wrist oh you can rotate the wrist as well if you want
21:48can you reach the back of your ting
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 use it like normal yeah all what I need just to be in
22:04one place
22:05and safe and simple with my family
22:13I'm still have hope I 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 gonna happen
22:43did I will get a visa or no
22:50Ghanem'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
23:01at a ministerial level given the unique circumstances that applied to him
23:09I received a call from my case manager and immigration department and he said
23:15are you ready to come to the office Monday
23:21I went to the office and that guy is coming down and he said
23:26congratulations Ghanem you you become a repairman resident
23:29oh my god I can't describe any words I'm allowed to get in a passport
23:39you're allowed to apply sponsor for your family and I did this straight away
23:47the family they go to residency in Australia and I start prepare all the furniture for them
23:54I'm very excited finally they will live with me forever so I try to do my best it's a short
24:03time
24:10excited I find the house
24:16usually in our culture like most of this stuff the wife done this but I already spoken to her and
24:23I said
24:23please leave me enjoy this time
24:25please leave me enjoy this time
24:27even if you need to change anything I don't care it's fine
24:30leave me enjoy this amount
24:32I haven't got this feeling almost 12 years
24:35I haven't got this feeling almost 12 years
24:38all right Jörg
24:40this is the dining table okay
24:42we will have all love us together in one table
24:50it's never happened before
24:52we will have all love us together in one table
24:53okay I will sit in here
24:55I will sit in here my wife and all my lovely boys around us
25:01it's amazing it'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
25:21all right
25:22how are you going
25:26everything going well but only I have a little bit problem with the right arms
25:31still completing of the weights it's heavy
25:34too heavy yeah
25:35should we just check out if the left one is working since I put the new battery in
25:40yeah then have a look at this one as well
25:42no no okay
25:44all right you tell me when it's in
25:46one two three that's it
25:47okay that's it
25:48okay
25:49so the um the left arm was fitted in 2019
25:54and um uh that's that's working quite well
25:59the battery seems to be working that'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 with a shorter amputation level
26:15we we've discussed a few of the challenges particularly around the right arm
26:19uh with ganim and the the main hurdles currently are the weight
26:23and just the the the cognitive energy that is required for ganim to control the right arm
26:30so we're thinking of simplifying the setup
26:34there's always a lot of learning
26:36um and ganim is very open to anything that can help him get get more function
26:53when we arrived at the airport i saw my dad so i left all the packages and everything i ran
27:00to my dad and hugged him
27:02my mom told us don't run yusuf will go first to hug his dad
27:07when yusuf finished we ran to our dad and hugged him
27:13this is a very incredible result
27:17my family
27:18and i in one place
27:28waking up knowing that his wife and his boys 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
27:42let's have a food
27:46what are you feeling when you move to level two
27:48what 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 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
28:10i don't
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
28:22they'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
28:35and never back down never walk
28:37never give up
28:38oh
28:41most of the people who are really close to me
28:43when i lose in my best arms they thought like
28:45i'm gone
28:46that's it
28:47the life
28:48end
28:48yalla
28:49it's very important
28:51for me
28:51to never
28:53thinking
28:55what you have lost
28:58always you thinking
28:59what you have achieved
29:00yes
29:01oh
29:02yeah
29:03my advice to everyone
29:05if something happen in your life
29:07oh
29:08oh
29:08this is not the end
29:11find out how you fix it
29:13find out how you working on it
29:15believe yourself as much you can
29:17don't feeling down
29:19and believe me
29:21one day
29:23all your dreams
29:24will become true
29:26oh my god what the fuck
29:32is
29:32slowing on your brake
29:33and then easing round
29:35yeah
29:35on your brake
29:36once again we're going to get that downhill run
29:38I'm going to my alley
29:39I'm driving all
29:40I just need to take the balance of the steering you know
29:45yeah
30:00you
30:00oh
30:00and
30:00you
30:00oh
30:00no
30:00it's not the fault of this
30:01I do
30:01I do
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