Julie Preston was hit by a car at an intersection near Silverdale on Labour weekend, five years ago.

"I don't remember what happened, not even the helicopter ride to hospital," Ms Preston says.

She left hospital in a wheelchair at the end of January 2002 but by that May she was walking with crutches and now in 2006 walks with just a limp.

But the road to rehabilitation was not easy and the accident has left a lasting legacy.

"You find out that in the first two years you improve the most but, even though you think you are going to be as before, you have to live with the fact that you are not," she says. "It changes your whole life because a lot of things that were simple before are hard to work out."

Learning to walk again and living with constant fatigue and pain are the reality for many people with brain injuries. Part of the problem is there are often no visible signs of their injuries and their tiredness or inability to do some tasks are mistaken for laziness.

"If you walk into a room you cannot tell if someone is brain injured as you can't sit there with a bandage on your head." Having contact with support groups through the Brain Injury Association has been a lifeline for Ms Preston.

"When you have a brain injury you lose most of your old friends and belonging to a support group means you are not alone - you feel like you are normal, as everyone can relate to everyone in some degree."

Two years ago she started doing voluntary work with the Brain Injury Association and was offered a part-time job in March 2006.

"The Brain Injury Association were very helpful from the start and they are great employers because they understand if I get tired and need a break."

Her best suggestion for anyone with a brain injury is to keep fighting and try to live as normal a life as possible and not to isolate themselves." I belong to the Waitoki Village Community Group," she says.  "You have to make yourself do things and become real again."

Brain Injury Association of New Zealand executive director Harley Pope says the only predictable thing about a brain injury is its unpredictability.

"Everybody is unique and brain damage is so diffuse so everyone reacts differently," Mr Pope says. "We call it the silent epidemic as many don't have outward signs of disability."

The Brain Injury Association is also concerned for the families of those with a brain injury. "We offer advocacy, information, support and education to both groups."

 

Article by Jan Mathis-Collins and reproduced by kind permission of the Rodney Times.