Headway launches Action for Brain Injury Week 2023: Every 90 Seconds
Every 90 seconds, someone in the UK is admitted to hospital with a brain injury – that’s a staggering 350,000 people per year.
Headway UK’s Action for Brain Injury Week is an annual campaign designed to raise awareness and understanding of acquired brain injury (ABI) and to help give survivors and their loved ones a voice.
This year’s ABI Week campaign entitled Every 90 Seconds, takes place from May 15-21 and will highlight how common brain injuries are and how they can affect any of us at any time.
Brain injuries can have many causes including strokes, tumours, falls, road traffic collisions, assaults, and concussions and can have life-long consequences for survivors and their loved ones.
Throughout ABI Week, Headway will share real-life stories from brain injury survivors and their partners, talking candidly about brain injury and how Headway is helping them to rebuild their lives.
Two of those sharing their story for the ABI Week Every 90 Seconds campaign, are Nigel and his wife Paula.
Nigel enjoyed a creative career as a photographer and filmmaker before his life changed one fateful day six years ago, as he was going to the cinema.
“I was standing at a bus stop,” Nigel recalled. “Beyond that, I have no idea because I woke up in hospital. Absolutely everything changed – instantly.”
While waiting for the bus, Nigel had suffered a stroke and, after his discharge from hospital, was left with many challenges, including memory loss, fatigue and difficulty with his balance. Unfortunately, he also suffered a second stroke in 2022, shortly followed by a heart attack.
Thanks to the care of his wife Paula, his family, and Headway, Nigel is now doing well and enjoys attending creative sessions at Headway Devon.
“Headway has been extraordinarily helpful,” Nigel said. “There is so much of life that once you have a stroke, you suddenly lose, and it’s like becoming disconnected from life. And coming to Headway, I’ve become connected to all these people, and I’ve become connected to Headway - and it’s belonging again.”
Colin Morris, Director of Communications at Headway UK, said: “Every 90 seconds, someone in the UK is admitted to hospital with a brain injury – it’s a startling statistic that I’m sure will stop many of us in our tracks.
People tend to think these things only happen to other people, but the reality is brain injuries can impact any of us at any time - and it only takes a second for someone’s life to be changed forever.
During the campaign, we hope people will take a second to learn more about brain injury through powerful stories like Nigel and Paula’s.
We want people to see how they can support our work to rebuild meaningful lives and to take a second to consider donating their time volunteering with Headway or simply to share our message.”
Take a second to find out more, and if you can, please get involved by donating, volunteering, or simply raising awareness of our services using our social media hashtags #ABIweek #Every90Seconds. Because every 90 seconds, someone like you needs our help.
To learn more about ABI Week ‘Every 90 Seconds,’ visit the website here.
