Brisbane private extends a helping hand
28-Oct-2010
Matius Wau was born in 1980 in Hiliamaetaniha a village on the island of Nias which lies off the west coast of Sumatra. Matius is the second of four siblings born to poor rubber farmers. His parents struggled to put him through school to junior high level, but were unable to afford to pay for him to complete senior high. Matius found himself a job in a hotel in Gunungsitoli in the capital of Nias where in return for working seven days per week the owner of the hotel gave him room and board and paid his high school tuition.
When Matius was 16 he met a couple named Ruby and Channa Senaratne. Ruby and Channa were very impressed with Matius, his hard work and friendly nature and willingness to practice his English with them. A year later Channa, then employed by a surf charter company in Padang, contacted Matius and offered him a job as a crew member on the charter boats. Matius worked alongside Channa for four years and proved himself to be a very motivated worker, eager to learn and never afraid to take on a challenge.
In 2005 Ruby and Channa set up a non- profit foundation: Local Empowerment Assistance Program (LEAP) Inc. www.leapin.org in order to be able to assist rural Indonesian communities to overcome poverty. Again Matius was asked to join them in working for the foundation.
For the last five years Matius has worked extremely hard and has taken on the passion of fight against poverty in his country. He is the country manager for LEAP in which he regularly travels out to Nias to oversee various projects such as coconut oil production.
Coconut Cultivation is the main form of agriculture on Nias. LEAP purchased land in order to provide local communities an alternate market for their coconuts while providing employment with fair wages. A percentage of the profits of the wholesale value of the oil goes back into community development projects on the island, such as supporting the children’s club, garden projects and canoe building.
Matius often assists people in his local community in small ways from his own funds and has personally sponsored a teenage boy to be able to continue high school. Through his own wages he has assisted his parents to pay for both of his younger siblings to complete high school.
In 2003 Matius suffered a motor bike accident. He continued to work without complaining and continued to assist his community and family. Over the last two years the pain proceeded to get progressively worse and began to affect his walking ability. Matius could not afford to self fund the surgical intervention needed so Ruby and Channa proceeded to contact various doctors and specialists in Australia to see if there was anyone who would be able to assist Matius with his plight.
Dr Richard Williams, Orthopaedic Surgeon, agreed to meet with Matius after receiving a copy of his MRI scans to view. Dr Williams identified that surgical intervention was indeed necessary. Dr Williams collaborated with the Brisbane Private Hospital and Dr Chris Jackson of Wesley Anaesthesia and together they agreed to donate their time and services in order to help Matius who has given so much to his local community. It was arranged that Matius would travel to Brisbane to obtain the medical care needed.
On April 22nd 2010 Dr Williams met with Matius in his rooms at Brisbane Private Hospital to discuss what appeared to be a central L4/5 disc bulge which was causing L5 nerve compression, the cause of Matius’s lower back pain and pain through both of his legs.
The following day surgery was performed and a Bilateral L4 Foraminotomy, Central Discectomy at L4/5 and a Bilateral L5 Nerve Root Exploration was undertaken.
Matius has since returned to Indonesia to his wife and two children following a very successful operation. He is extremely happy with the outcome of the surgery and has neither pain nor any trouble walking and he continues to work as the logistics manager for LEAP.
15 June 2010 from Matius Wau
“Hello Dr Williams, Again I would like to thank you for your great kindness and for what you have done for me. I believe that it was a great miracle from God that went through you and with your great heart to help me. I am so happy to find myself to be able to walk as normal again without any more pain.
I really appreciate it and I know that these words are not good enough to thank you for what you have done for me and I am not able to pay you back, but I will try to do it through help to other people.” [SIC]