Can I get medically boarded after I had two stents placed in my neck and an operation to allow blood flow to my brain?

The long answer

A complete blockage of the carotid artery on the right side of your neck certainly sounds very serious to me, but before medical boarding is considered, your employer is required to see if your job could be modified to accommodate you, or if there is another job within the company that you would be able to do.

Being able to be medically boarded would depend on the rules of the pension or provident fund of your company, and whether it provides disability benefits. Most companies have an insurance policy linked to the pension or provident fund, where it is the insurance company that decides whether an employee qualifies or not. If the insurer agrees that you should be medically boarded, they will pay you a monthly stipend of whatever amount the policy provides for. 

Abrahams and Gross say that employees themselves can apply to be medically boarded through the fund or scheme they belong to. In that case, you must request the relevant forms from the fund or scheme and complete them. Your application to be medically boarded must be accompanied by a medical assessment motivating the reasons for permanent incapacity. In the end, the insurer will decide whether to approve the claim or not.

Buddies for Life says that the bar for medical boarding is set “quite high” and that very often the insurer is looking for definite proof that the person will never be able to work again. 

Perhaps you should start by discussing medical boarding with your doctor.

Wishing you the best,
Athalie