An International Directory of Assistance for sufferers of Brain Injury

Having suffered a brain injury some 18 months ago when I was knocked down by a car I was appalled to discover how little in the way of support is readily available in the UK.

By chance I happened upon a BBC Television drama last year “Recovery” which addressed the subject of Brain Injury and showed the various ways in which the sufferer, his friends and family were affected by it.

At the end of the program I was in tears.  Although the main character in the drama had been more severely injured than myself, I finally realised that I had not been imagining the difficulties I had faced since the accident and, more importantly, I realised that I was not alone… I was not unique.  Somewhere “out there” there were people who understood what I was going through; there were people who had experienced the same problems as myself, and there were people who could help me to understand what was going on and give me some form of guidance and help to start to overcome my problems.

At the end of the program the telephone number of the BBC Action Line was given and, upon calling it some two weeks later (symptomatic of my problems), I was referred to the help-line for Headway, the Brain Injury Association in the UK.

I can honestly say that the relief I felt as I was talking to their representative (whose name I have unfortunalely forgotten) cannot be put into words.  Every single thing I described to him about my symptoms he confirmed as being typical of people suffering from an acquired brain injury and he was even pre-empting what I was going to tell him next.  Perhaps the most important thing for me at that time was the way in which he spoke, and the way in which he listened.  His voice was soft, calm and reassuring.  He really cared about me and my situation and genuinely understood the effect it was having on my life.  I cannot thank him enough.

Now, almost a year on from that, I am actively involved in my local Headway branch and have been given responsibility for maintaining their website.

It occurred to me earlier today, during a discussion with our Branch Secretary, that the millions of people across the world who are affected by the problems of coping with a brain injury (the victims, their families and friends) might find some form of central index of support associations across the world useful and, to that end, (being a wordpress blogger already) I have started this site.

Please feel free to use this in whichever way suits you best.

Contact any of the organisations directly… post your experiences of coping with brain injury, either to yourself or someone you hold dear… or tell me of other organisations that can be added to the list, in any country in the world.

Whatever may help you.

Here is an idea of what went into the making of “Recovery”…