Getting out and about around town was once Irene Veenendaal’s favourite pastime. Known to her friends and family as the cheeky tearaway she would go exploring the four corners of Levin.
“As soon as she could walk, she was off!” says her mother, Dot Newport. “She climbed trees and ran around the streets and parks.”
But 20 years ago, Irene discovered her symptoms of aching ankles, pins and needles in her hands, clumsiness and fatigue added up to a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis and her mobility became compromised.
While her motorized scooter enabled Irene to get around for a time, she found she had to leave her job at the local supermarket where she’d enjoyed interacting with customers and being active in her community.
Now that her mobility is further compromised, she is a full-time resident at Levin War Veterans Home.
But Irene’s drive to play an active part within the lives of her friends and family – her husband, two grown up daughters, grandchildren – as well as the people in her new community at Levin Home continues.
“I love my family and I loved my freedom,” says Irene. “But here I can enjoy lots of visitors, the more the merrier!”
With the individualised care she receives – which includes a handcrafted cupholder to enable Irene to drink unaided, and a specially designed chair- she says she feels well looked after at Levin Home.
“The caregivers are lovely and don’t mind if I give them a bit of cheek,” she says with a smile.
Puzzles, crosswords, and brain teaser shows on TV are just a few things Irene says she enjoys doing to keep her mind busy.
