Laura Fergusson was a village…

After Sophia Malthus broke her neck at work in 2016, she spent nine months at the Laura Fergusson Trust's Auckland rehabilitation and respite facility.

She was 19 and at the time, her parents lived in a five-storey townhouse. She needed somewhere to go while her parents found a place to live that was wheelchair accessible.

"My only options were Laura Fergusson or a rest home," Malthus explains.

"And so now that there is no more Laura Fergusson, after the closure, the only option is a rest home."

The Laura Fergusson Trust closed its facility in Auckland back in 2020, citing its precarious financial position after years of deficits.

The decision came as a shock to disabled people - and their families - who used and relied on the services provided there.

Malthus went to Laura Fergusson after spending three months in a hospital spinal unit. She describes Laura Fergusson as "a village".

"I had my own little unit there, there was a kitchenette, my own bathroom, everything was centred around me being as independent as possible, and then when I needed somebody, I would push the bell and they would come when they were free.

"It was kind of a halfway house between going home and being by yourself with your caregivers and being in hospital...it was a really valuable place for me to become prepared to go back home."

Radio New Zealand https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018859611/laura-fergusson-closure-leaves-a-gap-that-s-hard-to-fill