"Emergency"

Recently my sibling and I attended the emergency department at Sydney Hospital on the advice of our family doctor.

My sibling has an acquired brain injury from a motor vehicle at the age of 2. Which resulted with a metal plate in their skull on the right side. Paralysis of the left side which means they cannot use their left hand and left leg is shorter.  

We arrived in the early afternoon had a short wait which was good. We where rushed through emergency and saw a doctor, nurses and I'm not sure who anyone was. I felt, one staff in particular was abrupt and was not interested in anything I had to say. I felt they made it very clear that because it was a 2 day old accident I should have brought my sibling on the day. My sibling has an intellectual disability and events in their life take longer to distinguish and they do not complain. 

We are older people and do our best in every area of our lives. We manage well on our own and do not want to be a burden to our family or Government resources.  We thank and appreciate all help given to us. All we needed was to be heard and understood. This, I believe, unfortunately was not the case on that day.

Another staff tried to intervene but was, I felt, overtaken by the initial staff member. 

We felt hurt, overwhelmed and embarrassed that we dare take up this person's time.

It's been some time since this event and it still is very upsetting to me. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.