cameron collects Cameron was born in 1995, a beautiful, healthy baby boy, Five months later he was fighting for his life. He developed Pneumococcal Meningitis, a deadly disease that can kill swiftly. Cameron survived but he was left with debilitating after-effects. He lost all abilities, even his ability to suck. We quickly discovered that he had extensive brain damage, complete loss of hearing in one ear and significant muscle loss down one side of his body. Cameron had also developed epilepsy. Cameron has fought to live many times since with countless epileptic seizures that lasted for hours, threatened his life, hospitalised him and damaged his brain even further. There is however one thing that Cameron never lost - his smile. Cameron spent his childhood doing daily therapy in a constant fight to awaken his brain and improve his quality of life and thus his future. He eventually learnt to walk, at 3yrs of age, and very slowly he has gained some skills of a young child. We stopped his epilepsy and
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he is now able to live medication free, but he is not able to live the life of a young man his age. He is non-verbal, needs 24/7 supervision and assistance with all aspects of his life. We had been pondering Cameron’s adult life for a long time and how to make it meaningful. We’d dreamt of creating an employment opportunity for Cameron but could never find the answers to the multitude of questions. What? How? Where? When? We knew that Cameron loved to help people, he can walk and carry things and he loves to be driven around in cars. He loves cars. In October 2020 Containers for Change WA was launched in Western Australia and Cameron’s support worker had a brilliant idea. We quickly realised we had found an opportunity for Cameron to have his own business and earn an income whilst helping our community and the planet too. On the 23rd December 2020 Cameron Collects was born. Cameron Collects is a service collecting 10c recyclable drink containers from homes and businesses. Cameron recycles the containers at Containers for Change WA refund points. All profits from Cameron Collects go to Cameron as an income.
