Tragic Accident in Japan Leaves Howard Paralyzed, Followed by Heartbreaking Turn

Howard Williams, an energetic and healthy 65-year-old, embarked on what was intended to be a serene holiday cruise in Japan with his wife, Lorraine.

Unforeseen by Howard, a minor misstep transformed the trip into a nightmare, resulting in a severe accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

The challenging months following the incident, which took place in May of the previous year, revealed another unforeseen complication that caught the Melbourne resident off guard.

Just 16 days after celebrating his 65th birthday, Howard’s accident disqualified him from receiving support through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which would have provided an additional $220,000 annually to cover his essential support needs.

Without access to the specialized care offered by the NDIS, Howard found himself relying on an aged care framework intended for age-related conditions, ill-equipped to handle the intricate, round-the-clock medical care that his spinal cord injury demands.

Howard’s accident occurred in the port city of Hakodate, in northern Japan.

It was the couple’s final day in the country – their cruise ship was due to leave for Alaska in a matter of hours – and the pair were sightseeing.

Walking along the Shichizai Bridge, which was narrow and crowded with both cars and pedestrians, Howard bumped into one of their travelling companions.

“I stopped to talk to my friend, and I just lost my balance,” Howard said. 

“I sort of stepped back, and unfortunately, the railing on the bridge was only 53 centimetres high, so it didn’t really even go up to my knees.” 

Howard fell three metres onto concrete, fracturing his C1, C4, and C5 vertebrae.

“When I landed, my limbs started tingling. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t raise my arms, so I knew something serious had happened,” Howard said.

What followed the accident was a blur of sirens and frantic confusion. 

“It was very traumatic,” Lorraine said of being suddenly thrown into the hospital system in Japan.

“And very difficult with the language barrier. It was quite scary.”

After having initial surgery in Japan, Howard was medically evacuated to Melbourne.

He then spent months in specialist rehab at The Royal Talbot as the reality of his “new life” set in – as did the reality of Australia’s age threshold for disability support.

Howard was assessed and found to require 24-hour care, as he is unable to feed, dress, or shower himself without assistance.

A social worker at The Royal Talbot broke the news that Howard had “aged out” of NDIS eligibility two weeks before his accident.

“That was really a devastating shock to know that Howard wouldn’t get the support that he needed,” Lorraine said.

Howard went back to living at home a few weeks ago, for the first time since his accident.

He is eligible for the highest level of funding under the federal government’s new Support at Home program, at $73,000.

While that amount may sound significant, Howard said the reality of living with quadriplegia meant it fell far short of meeting his bare minimum needs.

Howard currently has two carers coming for two hours in the morning and another hour in the evening. Outside of those times, Lorraine, 70, is Howard’s sole carer.

She wakes at 3.00 AM every day to turn Howard to prevent pressure sores and acts as a second carer everyday and on weekends to avoid the “prohibitive” cost of caring staff.

“I get angry that the government’s done this,” Lorraine said. 

“The burden has been placed on me by the government because they are not providing the amount of support he needs. It’s not right that a birth date determines the care you get.”

The total cost of Howard’s true needs sits at roughly $290,000 a year – a figure the couple simply cannot sustain.

Howard, who worked and paid taxes for over 40 years, describes the situation as blatant “age discrimination”.

The situation has led to Lorraine starting a parliamentary petition last month calling on the government to remove the NDIS aged care limit for people with severe disabilities, which collected 4500 signatures.

“If Howard had the accident when he was 64 and 10 months, everything would be totally different,” Lorraine said. 

“He would have the support he needs to live as normal a life as possible. Instead, we are left navigating a system that wasn’t designed for us.”

The age limit for NDIS eligibility was one of the topics raised in The Aged Care Royal Commission, which handed down its findings in 2021.

One of the final report’s recommendations was that every person receiving aged care who is living with a disability should receive supports equivalent to those available under the NDIS.

The Morrison Government said at the time it would further consider the recommendation as the Support At Home program was being developed.

A government spokesperson said the NDIS and Support At Home were ”two distinct and separate programs underpinned by different legislation, rules and funding considerations”.

“The NDIS supports eligible people who apply before age 65, while older Australians are supported through the aged care system,” the spokesperson said.

“Support at Home provides aged care services based on the assessed ageing-related needs of the individual, regardless of their location, background and life experiences. This may include individuals who are living with disability.”

Spinal Life Australia CEO Mark Townend says the Williams’ story was a tragic example of a policy failure that remained unaddressed.

“Disability doesn’t end at 65, but the funding does,” Townend said. 

“People who acquire a disability later in life are forced into a system that simply wasn’t designed for their needs. This isn’t just unfair; it is discrimination embedded in policy. Access to the supports required to live safely and independently should be determined by need, not age.”

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