Disabled Woman ‘Fatally Betrayed’ by NDIS Provider

The mother of a 28-year-old disabled woman told a court about the suffering she endured after the death of her beloved daughter.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme NDIS logo is seen at the head office in Canberra, Australia, on June 22, 2022. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

A broken mother has described the nightmare she has endured since the death of her beloved daughter, who was severely burned in a bathtub while unable to alert her carers.

Kyah Lucas sustained burns to almost half her body when she was bathed at a home in Orange, in central western NSW, by two workers from NDIS provider LiveBetter in February 2022.

Her skin was peeling when she was removed from the bath, with a temperature control panel revealing the water was 60 degree C instead of the usual maximum setting of 42 degree C.

The Indigenous 28-year-old lived with conditions that left her physically and intellectually underdeveloped, non-verbal, and with thin skin that made her susceptible to burns.

She was vulnerable and dependent on others to take care of her while her mother worked, the New South Wales (NSW) District Court was told on March 24.

“Kyah was a little girl who trusted these people to care for her and that trust was fatally betrayed,” her mother Sandra Wicks said.

Her daughter couldn’t run cold water over her burns or call an ambulance but relied on her carers, who failed to do both things, she told the court.

“They could have meant the difference between life and death,” Wicks said in an emotional victim impact statement.

“She fought as hard as she could but the injuries she suffered were too catastrophic”.

The two carers were fired from LiveBetter and had since been deregistered, the court was told.

NDIS records, however, show one of the carers was barred from disability work until she completed further education and the other handed a three-year ban that has since expired.

Lucas died five days later while hugging her father in a Sydney hospital, but the pain she endured has continued to haunt her mother.

Wicks told the court she requires medication to escape the constant nightmares of her daughter trapped in a bathtub in agony.

“The unexpected horrific death of my daughter was a catastrophic event that tore my life and my heart apart,” she said.

“I live with a constant heaviness, a sadness that words cannot describe.”

Lucas was cheeky and loving and brought joy to her loved ones with an infectious giggle that became more pronounced when she was being mischievous, Wicks said.

“Kyah had an incredible ability to light up a room,” she told the court.

After being her voice and protector for 28 years, Wicks spoke on behalf of her daughter once again to advocate for justice and accountability.

Her statement will be taken into consideration when care provider LiveBetter is sentenced for breaching its primary duty of health of safety in relation to Lucas.

Wicks said there was no sentence that could undo what was taken from her and her family.

LiveBetter accepted responsibility, expressed its extreme sorrow, and offered an unreserved apology to the family of Lucas in court.

Lucas would never be forgotten, Judge Wendy Strathdee assured her mother.

LiveBetter will be sentenced at a later date.

The NDIS provider was in 2024 fined a record $1.8 million in the Federal Court over multiple failures to comply with its standards of care in relation to Lucas’ death.

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By Adelaide Lang in Sydney