I was ran over when I was 11 years old at 90 mph when a car hit me and dragged me half a mile up the road. I was in a coma on a ventilator for 6 weeks, my parents was told to except the worse and if I did wake up I would be a brain injury unit for the rest of my life.

I woke from my coma with brain damage to the right side of my brain. I couldn’t talk, walk, basically I had to relearn everything again from scratch. I spent a year in a wheel chair learning to walk again, which I was so determined to do.

I proved all the doctors wrong and started walking again, a consultant once said to me that people who have been through what you have been through in life achieve more because they push themselves harder to achieve.

I have now turned my weakness into my strength by becoming a Personal Trainer to help people achieve there goals in life. I started running 3 years ago to train a client for Newark Half Marathon and I realised that running gave me such a buzz because I feel that I am proving people wrong who said I wouldn't walk again. I have now run 4 Half Marathons and 2 10k runs to inspire people.

Headway was a big part of recovery and still are a big part of my life even now. Fundraising is my way of saying thank you and all I want to do with my life now is help people because if it wasn't people for helping me I wouldn't be where I am now.

Brain injury can challenge every aspect of your life, walking, talking, thinking and feeling and the losses can be severe and permanent. It can mean losing the life you once lived and the person you once were.

We all think 'it will never happen to me', but every year around 350,000 people are admitted to hospital with an acquired brain injury. That's one every 90 seconds.

A brain injury can happen to anyone, at any time. When it does, Headway is here to help.

Join our team of #HeadwayHeroes taking part in the TCS London Marathon 2024 to help us continue improving life after brain injury. Please take the time to read their inspiring stories and help them achieve their fundraising targets by sponsoring them!

£250.00 covers the average cost of emergency travel to and from hospital over a 4-week period to visit a loved one following a brain injury. £500.00 can fund the running costs of our nurse-led helpline service for one day, whilst £2,480.00 can support the service for one whole week.