A Polish man who suffered a spinal cord injury following a horrific kitesurfing accident last year that left him paralysed has been told he is not eligible for a disability pension.

Tomasz Szpyrka, 32, will soon be discharged from the hospital  where he has been undergoing rehabilitation since the accident.

Tomasz is worried he might end up on the streets after he was informed he was not eligible for the pension since he is not a Maltese citizen, though he is an EU national. He applied for the pension a year ago. 

“In two weeks’ time, I’m going to be discharged. Without the allowance, I’ll end up on the streets with no money and no food… I feel upset about this nationality discrimination. I’ve done everything right since I’ve been in Malta since 2012. I was working, paying taxes and national insurance,” an exasperated Tomasz told Times of Malta.

“I’m still willing to work and pay taxes but in my situation – I am paralysed from the chest down – it’s more than challenging to find suitable work, preferably from home, for a person with my level of disability.”

Tomasz is still planning to stay in Malta. He just signed a contract for the next 10 months for a wheelchair-accessible apartment and that is why the allowance is so important.

A spokesperson from the Social Solidarity Ministry said Tomasz was not a Maltese ID card holder but had a residence permit that is linked to an employment permit.

“He is not an ordinary resident of Malta and that is why he is not eligible for the disability assistance. On the other hand, if Mr Szpyrka was working and paying national insurance in Malta for at least one year, he may apply for an invalidity pension.”

The Social Security Department would then aggregate his contributory period in Malta with that of Poland (or any other EU member state) and if he satisfies the contribution test and the medical evaluation, he will qualify. He could also apply for an equivalent benefit from Poland, the spokesperson said.

But Tomasz insisted he had applied for the allowance a year ago and no one mentioned the important details to him.

I was in a bad place at a bad time

“I was waiting almost a year just to find out I’m not eligible. If I knew that from the start I wouldn’t have planned to stay in Malta,” he said.

“I wouldn’t have rented an apartment or applied for a job though Jobs Plus. I lost almost a year of payments, if I would have been informed like I was supposed to, I would have applied for an allowance in Poland.”

Tomasz suffered a spinal cord injury following a kitesurfing accident in the area known as Ta’ Fra Ben in Qawra on February 23, 2019.

The accident took place shortly before a hailstorm with gale-force winds hit the island.

On the morning of the accident he was to meet a friend in Qawra for a session of kitesurfing, something he had been doing for years.

He went to Ta’ Fra Ben in the early afternoon, picking the spot because it offered calm waters sheltered from the open sea. When he got there, it was sunny and the wind was perfect for kitesurfing.

He surfed alone for about an hour and then went back to shore to wait for his friend.

“While at my break, during those 15 minutes, something changed. The weather conditions changed. And instead of going in the water, the wind pulled me over the land and I crashed into rocks,” he had said during an interview last September.

“I heard a lot of comments about the fact that I was stupid to go out that day. But that was the perfect day for kitesurfing. Everyone was out kitesurfing that day.

“I was in a bad place at a bad time,” he had said.

Tomasz was taken to Mater Dei Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and was placed in an induced coma for two weeks. He had broken several bones, including his spine, as well as puncturing his lungs.

After spending about three months in the intensive care unit, Tomasz started rehabilitation at Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital that has been his home since the accident. He will now be released in two weeks.

The Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability said they received Tomasz’s case for investigation and are currently looking into it.

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