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I once worked 40 hours a week as a delivery truck driver, plus some weekends and holidays. I exercised regularly and often combined work and home life. I was perfectly healthy, invigorated by work and my desire for my family. I believed in the cardinal rule – ‘it can’t happen to me’. So, it was a great surprise and shock when as a pedestrian I was run over by a car. This is my story... |
On
April 25th 1999 at approximately 9.30pm I was perfectly fine and
literally one minute later I was virtually dead. I suffered 17 injuries
including bleeding in the brain. My friends witnessed the accident and called an
ambulance and got me to Liverpool Hospital. I was on life support in intensive
care for a number of weeks and things did not look good for my ultimate
survival. In fact, I found out later that I was not expected to survive. I
eventually woke up but was unable to walk, talk, feed myself or function in a
number of ways.
I
was transferred to the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit at Liverpool Hospital
where I underwent rehabilitation. This continued in the hospital for months. I
have gradually improved over the years but 5 years later I am still considered
disabled. Some of my current disabilities are memory problems, tiredness,
concentration and inability to carry out many tasks, as well as some physical
problems such as partial paralysis of my left side and physical balance
problems.
If
there was ever a single principle that could rebuild our lives it is to be
appreciated for who we are and the difficulties we are now facing. Along with
this goes the opportunity for us to live a fuller and happier life. I look
forward to going to Camden respite house where I get the chance to socialise
with others, go on outings, have the opportunity to talk with the staff about my
difficulties and get accepted as a person. It also gives my wife and family a
chance to do their own thing.
Written by John, September 2003.
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I have
heard of respite services available to help families, but I never thought
that we would ever have to use one.
I don’t worry about John when he is staying in Respite. The staff are there 24 hours a day, are trained, friendly and treat everyone like ‘normal’ human beings. They have outings, socialise with others, its like home away from home. |
Living with someone who has suffered a Brain Injury can be stressful at times, from our noisy children to John not being able to do the things that he was once able to do - it can cause some bumpy rides. Respite care provides a great service and gives our family a break from this stress and it provides a chance for our family to survive.
Written by John's wife, September 2003.
Last modified: Thursday, 20 April 2006
