Bad breaks and help when it's needed

A friend, David Hayes, is one of the country's top freelance writers. He was "doored" in July while on his bicycle in Toronto (at right is what his bike looked like after the collision.)

Extensive injuries to his arms, elbows and wrists essentially mean that, even now, he has great difficulty practicing his craft -- take notes, type etc. For a freelancer such a situation is a major financial calamity.

David wrote about this in the National Post on the weekend (the article had to be typed with the help of his girlfriend, Jennifer O'Connor.)

For almost two weeks following the accident, my girlfriend spoon-fed me (though I even became adept at lapping food off my plate, like a dog), brushed my teeth, washed my face, helped me dress and performed myriad other everyday tasks while I survived on a diet of ibuprofen and Tylenol-3s. Even today, one neighbour takes me shopping, while another takes out my recycling and garbage.

For a self-employed writer, the after effects have been catastrophic. Ten or 15 minutes of typing does me in and even scribbling a few lines in a notepad is painful. And work that I'd been counting on for cash flow in the coming months has ground to a halt.

My physiotherapist, who has seen injuries of this sort countless times, warns that it may be many more weeks before I fully recover and that my left elbow may never fully straighten.

I am not aware of backstopping assistance for magazine freelancers, but I think there should be some. Most freelancers cannot afford private disability insurance even were it available. Perhaps it is time for this industry to look out for its perennial contributors and set up a fund that would be available to help out in such a crisis. The National Advertising Benevolent Society (NABS) might be the place to house such a fund, or the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC). The details don't matter so much as the will.