Testimonial by Thore and Justine Jenshus.
The weekends were for racing dirt bikes with friends. With a job as a mechanical engineer and a newly adopted little girl, Thore and Justine made the most of living in the Black Hills. Then, the dirt bike accident. Thore suffered a spinal cord injury and faced a new life as a quadrapalegic. Flown to a spinal cord injury hospital in Denver, Thore spent five and a half months in recovery and rehabilitation.
Justine took all her vacation time to be with Thore in Denver. When her vacation ran out, she took on the challenge of working, caring for their daughter, and traveling to and from Denver to support Thore. As she began planning for his return, finding a home that would allow for an electric wheelchair moved to the top of the list.
Thore recalled how uncertain he felt about a living situation. “I was in the hospital in Denver, and I remember thinking, ‘What do we do when we get home?’ You don’t plan of moving. You have a garage full of crap and unfinished projects. I raced dirt bikes, and that community stepped up. We tried to find an apartment to rent to buy us some time to sell our house. We could not find any.”
“There are so many split-level homes and those don’t work. We have a 4000 square foot home, but I can only use the main floor. We had to buy a house that big to allow for the modifications. We made a new door and added a ramp from the garage, so I could get into the house. We added a roll-in shower to the bathroom and a ceiling lift in the bedroom. Being middle class (not poor, not rich), we didn’t qualify for any help. We qualified for a vehicle and ceiling lift.”
Having worked as a hairstylist, Justine completed nursing school and had started a new career. Her training became as valuable at home as it was at work. Justine is thankful for the ceiling lift to lessen the physical burden of helping Thore transition from his chair.
“Being middle class, not poor, not rich, we didn’t qualify for any help,” Justine shared.
“Vocational Rehabilitation helped us qualify for both the ceiling lift and a vehicle. Even though Thore needs help with daily activities, he can drive, and that allows him to continue working.”
Thore described his daily routine. “Justine has to help me with a lot of things. My daughter is 14 now, and she helps, too. Home aid comes in to help me shower, brush teeth, dress, and get breakfast. I take our daughter to school in the morning and then go to work. I’m lucky. I’m a mechanical engineer, and I can operate my computer fairly well. Justine makes lunches for me, and someone at work heats it up and helps me get set up with my fork.”
A social couple with many friends, Justine and Thore are well aware of the limited access in public and private homes. Thore is taking action to improve accessibility by serving on a city board.
“I was as ignorant as anyone before it happened to me. We have two sets of friends who built houses after my injury, and they pay attention to these things. If we are going somewhere, we have portable ramps that we bring. I can count on one hand how many houses we’ve been in. I don’t have too much trouble getting around public buildings, but the automatic door button is set up so your feet are in the way of the door swinging open. Or, they have the ice melt and shovel blocking the button so you can’t reach it.
"We got an education at the rehab hospital. They gave us tools and information and help you understand how you can still live, but they don’t know what resources you have in your city. We wish it was different, but we know there are far more who are worse off than we are. We’re grateful for what we’ve been able to do.”
Voices for Home Modification
The Voices for Home Modification Project wants to make a difference and provide answers for South Dakotans who are forced to wonder “What do we do when we get home?”
