Member Stories

I’ve  given my complaint to the “College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario”. Frankly, I don’t believe much will be attained for the thousands that have been affected by negligence, malpractice and cover up. This business of (privacy) is the weapon this organization and many shoddy health so called professionals have used for decades.

I am a victim of incredible medical maltreatment – all my life and justice with always elude me. From the time I was a child, then when I was a married woman, then I became a grieving grandmother/mother who’s precious granddaughter and daughter died by hanging due to the brainwashing of unlicensed/unqualified mental health quacks. They dealt with my mentally ill daughter and without referring her to competent medical treatment, convinced her with their now condemned (Recovered Memory Therapy). These psychological terrorists had the power to throw a bomb at my family and totally destroy it. Of course, when I demanded the records of these deadly therapukes, their rights to privacy were protected and I was shoved aside. I went to the College and of course, they passed the buck and ignored my pleas for help. I wanted these records so this would never happen to another innocent family.

My presentation to the Romanow Commission at the federal level finally brought about better treatment of our mentally ill children and our precious grand-babies. The botched autopsies of my girls would rival the Dr. Smith case. I have the proof of all I’ve just stated.

NOW, after all that has befallen me, I was in a horrible car accident, (not my fault), on a busy highway, vehicle destroyed, my companion’s life compromised and he’s affected for life. As if I haven’t been through enough, I too live in constant pain, have been designated as disabled and this has been going on for 8 years. In these eight years, I have been degraded, mistreated and lied about by so called independent medical examiners. I need medical treatment, prescribed by my current excellent doctors, however; my Insurance company (my good neighbours) have cut me off. I am now forced to fight for my rights and hopefully in a court of law. However; I’ve lost faith in all forms of government and agencies and will probably go by the wayside as my desperate/mentally ill/poverty stricken/family destroyed daughter was.

We’ve known for a very long time that the insurance companies and governments have been in bed together for decades while innocent victims suffer and are robbed blind due to so much corruption in this Ontario of ours.

Furthermore; along with the above, I’d like to expose more corruption and mistreatment of victims regarding the ongoing battle of our contractual agreements with our Insurance Companies who are totally centered on profit and with the incredible/corrupt backing of the Ontario Parliament. It is so shocking that the Ontario Governments of the day are willing to abuse the rights of accident victims for the generous political contributions paid by Insurance Companies and the Insurance Bureau of Canada, IF their desires are met.

(IN FACT IT’S THE GENERAL PUBLIC’S MONEY BEING MANIPULATED TO SEE TO IT THAT INSURANCE COMPANIES AND YOUR GOVERNMENT ARE TOTALLY IN CONTROL AND FOR PROFIT/POWER WHILE TRUE VICTIMS ARE DOING WITHOUT AND ARE LEFT IN PAIN).

How many times has the Insurance Industry, over many years, state that billions are wasted on fraudulent claims and yet they refuse to produce their evidence? Believe me, they monitor anyone going against them like no other spy organization. Most do not believe there are that many (malingerers) essentially what these organization calls us (the public) – (liars). There are very serious consequences for any accident victim that lies and is fraudulent, including jail time. Yet, what kind of consequences do corrupt Insurance Companies, corrupt IME (Independent Medical Examiners for easy profit) and their lawyers ever face – NONE!

I could provide a long list of how horribly I’ve been treated in this 9th year since my near deadly MVA and I would provide the proof if asked, however; my good neighbors, my Insurance Company, in trying to pry into my banking information,that was the last straw for me.

On September 17, 2010, I was struck by another driver making a left turn on Highway 17 just past Arnprior. I was driving 100 km/h when she turned directly into me, resulting a traumatic brain injury and a calcaneus fracture. Both injuries have not fully recovered. During my initial year of rehabilitation, my insurance company was very effective and I had a great report with my adjuster. After the one-year mark, my insurance company decided I was unable to return to my occupation as a press operator due to my inability to stand for long periods of time and started the process of retraining/re-education. That’s when things fell apart. I was set up with a vocational counsellor and two plans were submitted, one set at $10,500 and another at roughly $6,000. This took nine months to produce these plans and my insurance company suddenly decided they wanted to send me for my 104-week (2 year) review. In the process of debunking the retraining plan they required, over $17,000 was spent to avoid paying $6,000. The result of the review was that I was capable of returning to my previous occupation as a retail manager (regardless of the fact that I cannot stand for long periods of time). They also cancelled my income replacement payments with three weeks notice. As I write this, my family and I are destitute with no means to support ourselves. My fiancee suffers from a severe form of epilepsy and I have been unable to secure employment in the small town we call home or secure EI payments because I didn’t not receive any taxable income for the two years prior. Looking at this site and others like it, there is no doubt how broken the system is. If they state the reason for their actions is to counter fraud, why are they spending more money to avoid making payments than would take to simply make the payments as originally promised?

I keep reading about all the money insurance companies are giving as political contributions and also community funds. Sure everyone wants to help their community but where is the money for my treatment?

This year, there are plenty of ways to take home money in the Aviva Community Fund. Local company supports local arts: http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/about/fundsallocation

Local company supports local arts:  http://eedition.k-wreview.ca/doc/k-w_review/kw-review-november-22/2012112101/7.html#6

Insurance companies will go to any lengths to deny your claim and are well practiced in the art of intimidation. Best tool – private investigators. My insurance company hired private investigators within weeks of my car accident, investigators who invaded every aspect of my life in an effort to assist my insurance company to intimidate me and deny my claim. Private investigators that were prepared to make my life hell at any cost – dangerous high speed chases, high powered cameras, perverts sneaking around my home, following my daughters, interviewing their friends, our neighbors and business associates, and it got so bad that my neighbors had to call the police several times. There was nothing I could do, my daughters were terrified, my wife wouldn’t leave the house and driving the car while being chased was a nightmare. My daughters moved away as soon as they could but they still look over their shoulder to see if they are being followed. They are changed forever. How much does it cost to become one of these private investigators and ruin someone’s life? $315.00 plus tax. I read here on this site in the anti-fraud task force report that the Financial Services wants to give insurance companies broader immunity? So they can do whatever they like to their policy-holders and their families as they see fit, because they think we are cheating them? I’ve seen what that can do and after a decade I don’t think it will ever be over. The injuries from my car accident were catastrophic but my insurance company’s intentional damage to my life and those around me wasn’t accidental, their strategy of delay, deny and intimidate has been catastrophic too.

My accident date was April 7 , 2008. I was a pedestrian struck by a vehicle, while standing on the sidewalk. My catastrophic determination was reached in April, 2010. This was significant because I was close to exceeding my medical rehab limit.

My road to recovery has been rocky to this point. There are times the insurance company would appear not to be an ally in my recovery. At an insurance examination the physician informed me he was there to “get the truth”. As a result of my accident I was blind in my left eye and required surgery. They thought I was lying.

I’m here at FAIR out of concerns for others in the same or worse situation. I have concern for people in the early stages of recovery, who because of changes to rehabilitation limits, will have difficulty recovering. The trauma inflicted by the insurance industry, on victims of accidents that were no fault of their own, is shameful.

I was in a serious motor vehicle accident in 1997. I suffered critical internal injuries and a severe traumatic brain injury. I received first class care and my insurer was understanding and cooperative. I was also was fortunate to have own an excellent disability insurance policy to bridge the long period of lost income, but without the rehab funding my auto insurance provided, I would not have been able to ‘start afresh’ as I did – not the same person I was, but a happy person who is grateful for what was a more compassionate insurance system.
My story is not uncommon, but the stories are changing. The current insurance maximum coverage of $50,000 minus assessment costs would either have left me in a partially recovered condition or my family would have had to suffer crippling financial hardship to finance the services needed to complete my rehabilitation.
I hear of accident victims who because of the reduction in coverage can’t afford to get well and of those who lose everything they own in the attempt. I joined the board of FAIR to help find solutions.
Serious accident victims need sufficient funding to achieve maximum recovery; insurers need to make a reasonable profit; and wherever there is fraud in the system, it must be stopped — but none of that should be at the expense of those who legitimately need to recover from any degree of injury.

I was injured in 1994 when driving to work. I was immediately immersed in a world of fraud that I had no idea existed. It began with a medical rehabilitation worker who turned out to be a boat surveyor and who hid medical documents from assessors and then disappeared to Florida where he filed unsigned medical reports. It ended with a gymnastics teacher whose unqualified medical report was used to terminate my treatment and benefits and who was later backed up by a pro-insurer physician whose report was so biased and unprofessional that the College of Physicians and Surgeons gave him an ‘oral caution’ for his poor report writing skills.

It was a wake-up call to find out how difficult Ontario’s auto-accident insurance benefits were to access and my insurer spared no effort or expense to disqualify me rather than assist me with recovery. During the course of my claim I was subjected to an absentee and unqualified medical worker, a multitude of substandard and staged assessments, delayed treatment and rehabilitation, IMEs and physician reports that failed to take into account what my own treatment providers recommended, and intense surveillance and intimidation by my insurer who even tried to block the treatment I found on my own. I’ve joined FAIR to make a difference, to end the abuse of MVA victims who are likely as unprepared as I was to deal with challenges of making a claim in a system stacked against them. For some claimants making an insurance claim is as traumatic as the injury of a MVA itself. When the 2010 changes were made, I knew I had to help others whose battle for treatment and benefits would be even more difficult than mine had been.

I was injured in a Motor Vehicle Accident on October 24, 2008.  I was deemed “catastrophic”…… I was covered by the insurance benefits for my recovery before the changes made to the medical and rehabilitation benefits in 2010.  My insurance company was very helpful and the monies NEEDED in my recovery were never denied.  It was because of the available benefits, I have been able to move me forward and not be a victim!  I want ALL survivors to have the same opportunities I did.

Most people live their lives not giving a thought about what they have accomplished. We plug along with day to day events or situations.

UNTIL …. Life stops the way you’re use to! Your abilities change, for example…..physical movement, memory, concentration, motivation, determination, planning (even hourly), mood/behaviour, you change. These can happen with a motor vehicle accident, or blows to the head, or a fall, to name a few.

When this unfortunate experience occurs, we are required to work harder than we ever have and differently, to try and “regain” our abilities. I looked at my head injury in the beginning, with disbelief, anger, and resentment.

Through a lot of support, and therapy, I regained some of my abilities. Do I miss my abilities I don’t have? The answer is YES! But I like and I’m happy about my abilities I realized I still have. My motivation has always been the thought, IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE!

I’m speaking to you today, I’m not presenting. In other words, I’m sharing what worked for me, in hopes the ideas might work & help you.

I took my experience as an opportunity to revise me. Through re learning my abilities, I also learned to adapt to some ways of doing things. For example, my walking. I use a cane to keep my balance.
I’ll give you an idea of the steps I had to take to get to the use of my cane.

After the accident…… re learning the skills of sitting up in bed or chair unsupported, being in a wheelchair for mobility, using a walker to re learn how to walk, learning how to use the cane for stability. These skills took me, 6 months to begin with after my coma!

Recovery is one of the toughest journeys a person takes after an injury.
Being determined to succeed for you helps too!

Tammy Kirkwood ABI Speech x1

Tammy Kirkwood ABI Toronto Speech #2

Tammy Kirkwood DRS speech (1)

Tammy Kirkwood at Thomson Rogers

Tammy Kirkwood introduction to PACE (1)

Tammy Kirwood IBC kiosk video statement

Tammy’s submission to Standing Committee (1)

Tammy’s submission to Standing Committee

Tammy Kirkwood Steering Committe speech 3

Tammy’s speech at ‘Back to School’ TR-1