MICHAEL LEWIS GETS A DESERVED BOOST IN LIFE THANKS TO ROMAN AT THE GYM!
Just about everyone on the islands knows Michael Lewis.
Particularly on Macleay Island, he is a bit of an icon.
You often see him buzzing around the island in his electric scooter; particularly when he goes shopping at the Five Star Supermarket on Macleay Island.
Michael doesn’t move very well, as many of us know.
If fact, on more than one occasion we have caught Michael from falling when alighting from his mobility aid.
What we don’t know is how Michael Lewis became like he is; and the story of his continuing recuperation thanks to a popular local fitness expert, Roman Kuroczycki and his island gym.
Michael is 65 years of age and were it not for his 89-year-old mother Jean and his siblings, his life would have been vastly different.
Michael wasn’t always heavily incapacitated.
As a youth and a young man, he was a vibrant person who worked as a metal artist and loved surfing and his brothers and sisters.
When he was 22 years of age his life changed.
He was at a friend’s house at Mt Gravatt and he was found lying under the house unconscious.
According to Jean Lewis, no-one knows what really happened to Michael.
“According to the doctors, he had suffered a hit to the back of the head that they said was indicative of a blow from a blunt instrument. He clearly was assaulted, but that is all we know.
“As a result of the blow and the fracture to his scull, he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage”, Jean told The Friendly Bay Islander.
There were years of recuperating of a fashion and he later moved to Macleay Island.
He obtained some functionality, but his movements have always been difficult.
As he got older, it became obvious he needed some additional help.
That’s when Jean got into touch with Roman Kuroczycki of the Russell Island Gym.
“I could see that Michael would benefit from the strengthening of his leg muscles in particular. It would allow him to move around more easily, particularly now he is getting older,” Roman told us.
Jean says the results in the past four years Michael have been attending The Gym, have been remarkable.
“He is stronger and is able to do things now that he could not do previously. Had he not started working with Roman, he could have been totally incapacitated now,” Jean Lewis said.
Roman says Michael is quite ‘remarkable’.
“He takes a few tumbles from time to time and I have to say he would teach Army parachutists a thing or two when it comes to taking a fall!”
Michael attends The Gym three days a week with Jean.
He starts with a warm up on the bike, then progresses to leg presses pushing a remarkable 125kg, then moves on to leg raisers, arm work and calf raisers.
“It really has made a difference,” Roman added.
Each time Michael goes to The Gym, Roman collects mother and son at the jetty and takes them up for Michael’s workout, then returns them to the ferry for the return journey to Macleay.
People like Roman Kuroczycki and Michael and Jean Lewis make our islands the special place they are.
If you see Michael getting around Macleay or Russell or on the ferry, give him a wave.
He has a terrific sense of humour, and in this life, we could all do with a healthy dose
• Michael Lewis on the bike with Jean and Roman.