THE POWER OF A FRIEND

Can one person really make a difference in someone's life? For Jordy and his mother, Lisa, the answer is an emphatic yes

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When senior behaviour support practitioner Ashley, or Ash for short, met 26-year-old Jordan, he had just one question in mind: "What can we do to make his life a little bit better?" The answer, as it turns out, was to help make him smile and giggle.

Jordan, who has a multiple diagnosis and is missing the part of his brain that ensures both sides of it can communicate, had proven himself a fighter from infancy when his early health issues suggested a lifespan of six months.

He proved them wrong, including those who said he wouldn't walk. But as he aged, the battle intensified on a different front, as his mother, Lisa - who ignored suggestions to adopt him out struggled through a litany of support workers who didn't stay the course. For the devoted mum, it was a special type of agony - wanting to help Jordan reach his full potential but hamstrung in knowing the right way forward. It was then she turned to The Benevolent Society, which helped her "win Lotto" with Ash.

DESPERATION AND FRUSTRATION

"Until that point, I was trying to do my best, but I have no degrees, I didn't know where to start," Lisa recalls.

"I had no book to say, 'I need to do this and follow this. So I just had to feel it out and do my best. Then I met Ash and he started teaching me and telling me what Jordan needed. It helped me understand more and I could follow through; it's made such a difference."

BEAUTIFUL BOND