A life of purpose with Traumatic Brain Injury

[Bright2018]

Firstly it is important to celebrate being alive, in my case I was all but written off as a PVS Permanent Vegetative State case in Plymouth in 1983. After one month I started to show signs of recovery. The first thing I knew about it was back in Barnstaple when I remember my friends from school brought me some Green Grapes. Ever since I have been in complete denial until this year so my family and friends have been supporting me. I was able to just about finish school and go to university and have even had a few jobs but nothing has lasted.

In a GIG economy nothing lasts anyway but TBI patients and the other members of the disabled community struggle to survive. DWP Suicides have more than doubled following the introduction of flawed and inhuman fit to work assessments:

independent.co.uk/news/uk/h...

Everyone wants to work and play an active part in society but how can you actually get to work if you have no public bus, no public housing, not the public relations skills needed and you're just a bit slower to think than the other candidates?

In a competitive, cut throat society like the one the UK has become it's no surprise that suicide is increasing at an alarming rate. Most shocking is the fact that suicides are not even counted if the victim is homeless as many are. Living with friends on the sofa and not really having an identity after the DWP Denies your claim and delays your appeals and frankly ignores your emails makes you homeless...

So we simply do not know how many victims there are. What happens to the bodies and what are local councils doing to help? In Bournemouth they are doing absolutely nothing to help but might have removed the Hostile Environment of the Anti Homeless Architecture benches that have become so prevalent:

telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/0...

Honestly, we are living in a country where the Prime Minister is proud of the Hostile Environment and suicides by our most vulnerable people are not even counted. Even in Nazi Germany there were records kept of how many people were murdered by the Gestapo but in the UK lives apparently count for nothing.

Living with Traumatic Brain Injury makes you think more about life and how valuable it is. Please support out campaign to Bring Back the local bus that all disabled people need to have. A conductor on board would really help too. Conductors can help wheelchair users to easily board the bus and can sell tickets so the driver can focus on driving. With more buses and less cars there will be less Traumatic Brain Injury and we will Save Our NHS the billions of pounds spent on Road Incident responses.

When we consider how much money is wasted on Saudi Arabian petrol and German car imports we can start to realise how powerful our UK economy could be once disabled people are actually listened to. Going by bus is for everyone. The more people on the bus the more money our local councils have for other vital public services.

Police will be able to spend time helping build communities and running youth clubs and helping people recover lost property instead of racing around in panda cars with flashing blue lights. Doctors will be able to enjoy proper working conditions with breaks to be fully rested and avoid making mistakes. Nurses will be able to talk to patients again. All this will SAVE MONEY and Save our NHS.

All we need is enough of us disabled people to organise ourselves and talk more about what we really need. We don't need anti depressant Pill Medication we need an anti depressant Prime Minister who will bring back local bus services for everyone. We need someone who actually wants to listen to disabled people so WE can HELP rebuild Great Britain. Only by listening to the disabled can Britain become Great again!

So my message is: let's celebrate life with TBI and overcome our disabilities by talking about the importance of Local Bus Services so nobody needs a car. In this way the experiences of most TBI victims can be avoided for future generations. Rebuilding Great Britain means remembering our Great British Railways and life before the Great War started in 1914. In those days it was possible to get a train or bus to every village and that will surely benefit everyone today, especially our children.

[Kirk5w7]

Spot on Goldie, when i saw 3 i just didnt read them im coming back now because i think its a sweeping statement to say there is no recovery. Thats a bit too negative it is true to say someone's life will change and probably for ever and there will have to be compromises made as well as adjustments for the future, but there can be very meaningful life afterwards.

Just saying, thats all

Janet

[Bright2018 in reply to Kirk5w7]

Certainly do agree there is life with a Brain Injury but it is a very different life to what might have been. Given the right help and support it can be a better life, I think about things a lot more now. It all depends on having the support of family and friends as the government is clearly not around and benefits do not get paid so I am dependent on others for now. I hope things change and we get a proper government so I can get a proper job.

For example, dealing with tax and benefits used to be possible even with my TBI because there was a local tax office. Getting on trains was possible because there was a ticket office and a helpful person to talk to.

What is really difficult is being expected to do everything with machines, the internet and nobody to talk to. Does anyone else feel the same?

[Bright2018]

Most days I do not write anything. On a good day I like to write.

[bexx87]

beg your pardon .... no such thing as recovery after server tbi ...... are you seriously trying to wind me up I had my server tbi over 17 years ago and I have managed to get several qulications, a full time job (as a civil servant fyi) , a drivers licence, independent living ect ect I feel fully recovered its misconception like this that grinds my gears

its also worth to point out that I have had no ZERO help from anybody I have put in hours and hours of graft to get where I am today !!!!!

[Bright2018 in reply to bexx87]

It is recovery but it is adaptive so what I mean to say is recovery is the wrong word to use. A brain injury leads to the brain adapting. This is what the Neurosurgeon told me, it is not my opinion. You have done very well and I am sorry if you misunderstood what I wrote since I was just repeating what I had been told. I am posting another report now so I hope it is clear there IS recovery after TBI and the brain can adapt and I would say excel.

Living with TBI can therefore be more purposeful as the famous British saying goes "If it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger" I hope I can prove this in my case also.

Best wishes to you and thank you very much for your encouraging reply.

[bexx87 in reply to Bright2018]

look up a thing called: neuroplasticity

[Bright2018 in reply to bexx87]

Yes, that's it. The Brain adapts to the new reality, the damaged brain cells do not recover but find new pathways based on memories from before the injury (the undamaged parts of the brain find new ways to connect). Thank you.