Visit our new website

To stay up to date on the activities of the Child Brain Injury Trust please visit our website at www.childbraininjurytrust.org.uk. There you will find more about our:

• Learning events, including conferences, training days and webinars
• Annual fundraising campaigns: Action for Brain Injury Week in May and Be Seen, Not Hurt, our road safety campaign, in October
• Information on acquired brain injury, including our accredited Factsheets
• Contact details for expert legal firms that are members of our Legal Support Service
• Fundraising activities, including how to get involved near you

You can also call our helpline on 0303 303 2248 for more information on childhood acquired brain injury. You can follow us on Twitter @cbituk or find us on Facebook.

Meningitis B Vaccine to become available through NHS

Last Friday it was announced the United Kingdom would become the first country in the world to introduce a national Meningitis B vaccination programme.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an expert body who advises the government on vaccinations, originally ruled the Meningitis B Vaccine, Bexsero, was not cost effective. Just over one year later they are now recommending this vaccination on the condition that a cost effective solution can be met with the supplier of Bexsero, Novartis.

The decision came after a whole year of campaigning for the vaccination, including 118 paediatricians, scientists and nurses writing to the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in January pressing him to reconsider the decision on the Meningitis B vaccine.

According to the charity Meningitis Now there are around 1,870 cases of meningitis B each year in the UK. Meningitis B is most common in under 5’s, with one in ten cases being fatal and one in four suffering from long term problems such as amputation, epilepsy, deafness or an acquired brain injury.

Ben with his Sister, Mia.

The Child Brain Injury Trust works with a number of children who have acquired a brain injury as a result of suffering from meningitis at an early age. One of those families is Ben and his Mother, Sonia. Ben acquired his brain injury after suffering from meningitis and septicaemia when he was just 16 months old.
Upon hearing the news about the meningitis B vaccine, Sonia said:

"Words can't express how happy I feel about the recent announcement, it really is fantastic to think that every infant will shortly be able to receive this vaccine free of charge and not have to go through the pain and heartache for them or their parents of this terrible disease. The hard work and effort of everybody involved from the generation of the vaccine to the campaigning has finally paid off, really great news!"

The vaccination is likely to become available to children over 2 months from 2015.

Friday Fundraiser - Paterson Recruitment Skydive

Today's Friday Fundraisers are the team from Paterson Recruitment in Bicester, who have recently completed their sponsored skydiving challenge.

On a cold but very sunny Saturday at the end of November they met at Hinton Airfield, just North of Bicester, ready to take up the challenge and leap from 10,000 feet. After the safety briefing and training session they got kitted up, and assigned an instructor who would be looking after them throughout their tandem skydive.

The team was made up of staff from the Bicester branch of the business; Stephanie, Chelsea and James, and the owner of the business Gary Paterson.

There were some nerves and uncertainty before their time came to board the plane, but this would soon be replaced by beaming smiles all round as each member of the team floated safely back to earth. All 4 members of the team loved the experience and said they would love to do it again.

Paterson Recruitment have chosen The Child Brain Injury Trust as their charity of the year and the sponsored skydive was their way of kicking things off. It has proven a really positive experience for all involved, and the team are now hungry for more challenges. We look forward to working with them on their next adventure, and we’ll keep you posted on how we get on!

If you would like show your support to the team from Paterson Recruitment, and the Child Brain Injury Trust, visit their Just Giving page:  www.justgiving.com/PatersonRecruitment

Their fundraising is an exciting way to support the Charity and continue to raise awareness. Please help us to spread the word and visit our website for more information on our services and forthcoming events.

If you have been inspired by this story and would like to take on a challenge of your own, get in touch NOW. We can create bespoke events for you and your colleagues and are always happy to talk to new supporters and fundraisers.

Would you like to get involved this Christmas?

This year we are hoping to launch our first ever Christmas Campaign. We are hoping, with your help, to put together the Child Brain Injury Trust advent calendar. 

We are looking for short videos to share throughout the Christmas period to raise awareness of the Charity and to spread some festive spirit.

It is simple to get involved; all you need is 30 seconds (can be less time) and a video recording devise – such as a smart phone.



Here are a few ideas to get you on the way to making a Christmas video for our advent calendar:

• Get your children to record a Christmas song or message
• Share your family's story 
• Talk about how the Child Brain Injury Trust was able to help - can you sum it up in one sentence?
• Send us your thank you messages for the charity
• Tell us a Christmas joke!

Please send us your advent videos to emilyhoney@cbituk.org by Monday 25th November and visit the website during December to find out what door you will be behind.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you and we look forward to receiving your videos.

Friday Fundraiser - Landmark Challenge!

Braving the elements for fundraising fun

 

We were very proud of our volunteer abseilers who, on the 27th October, took the plunge - literally and metaphorically! - by completing a 165ft freefall, SAS-style abseil from one of Scotland's most iconic landmarks: the Forth Bridge.

The weather just about held out with a few spits of rain as participants made their way up to the walkway of the bridge.  Some were excited, some were very, very nervous but everyone completed it, enjoyed it and were delighted to be helping to support their local Child and Family Support Project.

Almost £3000 has been raised for our Scottish Project, which will make a huge difference to our work here.  We rely on the support of individuals to get involved with challenges such as these.  If you'd like to get involved in this, or any other type of fundraising activity in Scotland, please get in touch with Claire Murray in our Edinburgh office. 

The abseil is an annual event - if you've been inspired, why not give it a go next year?

Friday Fundraisers - Mud, Sweat and Tears of Laughter

Andrew Tee, our Community Fundraiser for the South, reports on an extreme day of fundraising.

Today's Friday Fundraisers are the intrepid/brave/mad/adventurous/stupid* (*delete as applicable!) team of Paul, Steve, Dave, Helen, Lucy, Sean and Andrew (me!). A couple of weeks ago we took part in a sponsored event to raise a few pounds for the charity. I had told the team that the day would be ‘a bit of a cross country run, with maybe a bit of mud, and the odd obstacle’! Little did we know exactly how extreme the Rock Solid Race, in woodland near Silverstone race circuit, would actually be.  

The course was 10K of off road running over dozens of man-made obstacles, through deep mud, over 8ft walls, through lakes and freezing skips full of ice & water. The team ran the race together, helping each other over, under and through all of the obstacles. We were especially pleased to have Paul and Steve on the team as, being the tallest in the team, they were essential in heaving us over the tall walls and bigger obstacles.

Not only were we dunked in deep slimy mud, thrown into a lake and subjected to electric shocks and barbed wire, but at one stage we had to run up and down a huge steep hill, whilst each carrying a heavy log on our shoulders!

Whilst this was without doubt a very tough physical challenge, it was also really enjoyable and there were many moments of laughter throughout the race. Not least when I found a submerged concrete post in the middle of the very first water obstacle and ended up doing a full somersault head first into the filthy, muddy, freezing water!

The team made it successfully round the course in just under 2 hours, a fantastic result. Utterly exhausted and covered in mud and bruises we all agreed it was great fun and that we’ll be taking part again next year.

If you would like show your support to the team, and the Child Brain Injury Trust, visit their Just Giving page.

This sort of fundraising event is an exciting way to support the charity and continue to raise awareness for us. Please help us to spread the word and visit our website for more information on our services and forthcoming events.

If you would like to take on a similar challenge to support us, or would like to talk about other less extreme fundraising events, get in touch NOW.

Be Seen, Not Hurt Blog Series - A Message From Our CEO

'Be Seen, Not Hurt' 

Child Brain Injury Trust CEO rounds up last week's of campaign activity 

Here at the Child Brain Injury Trust we’re passionate about the families of brain injured children that we support across the UK, but we’re also passionate about promoting safety and awareness in the hope of preventing more children acquiring a serious injury as a result of an accident.

Many of the families we have supported over the past 22 years have a child who has acquired their brain injury as the result of an accident, either crossing the road, whilst cycling or as a passenger in a car.

Road accidents involving children have a devastating effect on a family, and are sadly still all too common. The aim of our week long ‘Be Seen, Not Hurt’ campaign was to highlight the dangers of roads as we head into the darker nights of winter once the clocks go back. We aimed our message at school age children, and focused on staying safe whilst cycling, scooting, skating and crossing roads, and we encouraged children, and adults, to always wear a helmet whilst taking part in certain activities.

It is not a new message, but it is an important message, and it is the first time we have concentrated on road safety in this way with such a targeted campaign. We have been really pleased with the response from families, schools, businesses and individuals who got involved and helped spread the word.

Our teams across the country worked hard all week, and in the weeks running up, to promote this campaign. They have been talking to hundreds of children in schools all over the country, from reception classes and nurseries through to secondary school children. They have also been busy handing out thousands of reflective ‘slap wrap’ bands, thanks to our campaign sponsor Thompson Solicitors who funded them.

It was a busy week too with social media. It has been great to hear the stories of families who have been affected by a brain injury, and from people passionate about promoting the use of safety helmets for cycling and other sports.

Please continue to share the stories and messages from the campaign to as many people as you can. If you'd like to support our work, please send a text donation to 70070. Simply text CBIT13 £10 (or whatever amount you'd like to donate). 

We are not stopping now, we’ll continue to promote safety and awareness throughout the year, and we will be using lots of the resources and messages that we have developed for this campaign every time we go out and visit schools.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this important campaign, and don’t forget, if you want any further information about the work of the charity, or safety and prevention, please get in touch and we’ll be very happy to talk to you.

Be Seen, Not Hurt Blog Series - Day 7

On the 2nd April 2008, Naomi’s life changed forever. She ran out and was hit by a skip truck. At the time Naomi was only three and a half years old.

It was not just Naomi life’s that changed that day; it affected her whole family. For our final campaign week blog, we want to highlight the effects of brain injury on the whole family. You often see parents’ cycling with their children – the child is wearing a helmet but the parent is not. The effects of brain injury are life long and can have a devastating impact on the whole family.

Following Naomi’s accident she was immediately taken by air ambulance to Great Ormond Street Hospital; Naomi was only in hospital for a couple of months and was discharged following rehabilitation in June 2008. Naomi had made a good physical recovery. But, as many parents will tell you, being discharged from the Hospital is just the start.

The biggest hurdle facing Naomi’s family was finding a way to manage Naomi’s behavioural problems that were a result of her accident. To start with Naomi could barely concentrate for over a minute. Naomi’s mother, Marylene, gave up her job and dedicated her time to focusing on her daughter.

Marylene was in contact with the Child Brain Injury Trust from a very early stage and we were able to offer the whole family support. One of the key areas the Charity helped with was training and education. Our Training Manager attended Naomi’s school and helped educate the staff on brain injury and ways to accommodate Naomi’s additional needs.

This week marked the start of the Child Brain Injury Trust’s first ever prevention campaign; this is a new form of education for us. Similar to the help offered to Naomi’s school following her accident, staff were able to go into schools this week raising awareness and spreading a preventative message about road safety.

Naomi is now 9 years old and her family are learning to live with the effects of brain injury. Marylene had these words to share with other families affected by ABI: “I want other families to know there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Turn obstacles in to opportunity to make things better and more manageable. Pain is overcome through progress as every achievement is celebrated. Children with an acquired brain injury do have the ability to excel in life. Be open-minded through open doors. Parents we are much bigger than our circumstances.”

All our blog posts this week have highlighted that life changing moments can happen in the blink of an eye and we can never fully prepare for them. The Child Brain Injury Trust is here to support the whole family following a childhood acquired brain injury, but we also hope that by sharing stories like Naomi’s people will ‘Be Seen, Not Hurt’.

The Child Brain Injury Trust is a registered charity; if you would like to pledge your support then please text CBIT13 £5 to 70070.

Be Seen, Not Hurt Blog Series - Day 6

'I would not have gone on my adventure without a helmet'

Round the World Cyclist Tom Bruce shares his experience  

A bit about me 

I have always liked cycling and I have always wanted to travel. The first time I linked the two passions was when I did a coast-to-coast ride in the UK with my mate Jonny after my GCSEs. I then did a trans-Alp tour from Munich to Lake Garda off-road, which was absolutely amazing. I fell in love with bike touring and decided I needed to do something bigger. I read books by people who’d done adventures in the past and decided to do a long tour. I thought about Europe at first – a tour around Europe sounded good. Then I started thinking what about Asia, was that possible? I decided it was, so I thought, if I could cross Europe and Asia, I might as well try to cycle around the world. I thought I might as well do it properly, so I set myself the challenge of cycling every inch of the distance, no public transport was allowed! I left with no idea whether I would succeed and that was part of the excitement for me.

An overview of my trip – around the world by bike 

I left home on 13th March, 2011 and cycled from my front door, across the UK to Dover. I took the ferry to France and cycled along an amazing route through Europe, with a new country every couple of days. Highlights included the Black Forest, the Danube River bike track and finishing Europe in Istanbul.

The Caucuses came next and were absolutely beautiful. Georgia is my favourite country from the trip. Amazing mountains, the friendliest people I’ve met, beautiful Orthodox Christian churches, amazing food and a brilliant capital city. After crossing Azerbaijan, I took the Caspian Sea ferry to the middle of nowhere, the lonely city of Aktau in Western Kazakhstan. I remember sitting on the deck of the ferry across the Caspian Sea, looking at maps and trying to persuade myself that what I was about to do was possible. I arrived in Aktau and set off into the desert. Quickly the temperature shot up to 47 degress and I had to take 23 kg of water to make sure I would have enough between water stops. The road was dreadful, cut up, corrugated, with sand traps and no shelter from the sun. I was constantly getting shaken about and rattled around, as was my bike, which did an amazing job of surviving and carrying my luggage. It was so hot that that the rear wheel rim heated up enough to melt holes in the inner tube. I got ill on two occasions and was sick a couple of times. I had to cycle 100 km per day over about 2,000 km to get through Uzbekistan before my visa ran out. It was a very tough three weeks, but looking back on this, it was probably the most rewarding part of the trip. It was followed by the most amazing cities I’ve ever been to, the ancient Silk Road trading towns of Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand in Uzbekistan.

The part of the trip that I was most looking forward to was the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan. Unfortunately, I got very ill with a tummy bug and was worried that I wouldn’t be fit enough to cycle over the 4,000+ metre passes before my visa expired. I took a day off in Khorog because I was feeling too weak to ride, then left the following morning. I managed to ride a morning, and then met a Pamiri doctor, who took me in for the night. He was an amazing person. I just slept all day and drank a local remedy that he concocted from herbs. Whatever it was worked and the next day I was good to go. I cycled the Wakhan valley along the Afghan border then over a series of high mountain passes on the stunning Pamir Highway.

Krygyzstan was fantastic, full of high altitude pastures and nomads who invited me into their yurts. The gone-off mare’s milk was disgusting though!

China was a great experience, but a difficult too. The people in the small towns and villages find it very difficult to communicate with foreigner, which makes travel a challenge. I cycled with my cousin Phil through China though and this helped during the more difficult times. We crossed a large desert before reaching the Tibetan Plateau, and then cycled through the industrial east, to the coast. We made time to visit many tourist attractions, including a large Buddhist Monastery, the Terracotta Army and the Great Wall.

America was another world from what I was used to and I suffered reverse culture shock, looking at the vast amount of wealth in San Francisco when I arrived! My friend Harry joined me for this part of the trip and we got really into the riding though. We cycled through beautiful National Parks, like Yosemite and Death Valley, before crossing the Rockies and finally followed the gulf coast to Florida.

Wearing a helmet 

I would not have gone on my adventure without a helmet. To me, it is a necessity. Anyone riding a bike should wear a helmet, whether on-road or off. When I was about 14, I had a nasty fall on my mountain bike. I am a good rider, and can ride technical descents quickly and confidently, but there is nothing I could have done about this fall. My front inner tube got a massive pinch puncture and deflated in about a second. I hit a rock, when flying and landed on my head. The back of my helmet hit another large rock and smashed and cracked. My head was absolutely fine and I walked away with nothing worse than a grazed knee, thanks to the helmet.

Helmets are cheap and comfortable and even look pretty good these days – they’ve come a long way in the last few years. Vents keep your head cool and if you do a lot of night riding (like I do) they’re a great place to mount a light. It makes a big difference to have a light on your head, rather than the handlebars because it is always shining where you are looking.

So in short, get out and ride… but not without a helmet.

For more about my trip, including my blog, photos, route, kit list and much more, visit www.tombrucecycling.com 

My book, “Every Inch of the Way; My Bike Ride around the World”, is now available on Amazon and tells the full story of my journey around the world.

Be Seen Not Hurt Blog Series - Day 5

Ben’s Story – Ben’s Mum Sonia shares the story of Ben’s brain injury 

Ben with his younger sister, Mia. 

When Ben was 16 months old he contracted meningitis and septicaemia. The week previous to this he had a bad tummy bug and was very unwell and just didn't pick up to his usual happy self. On the Sunday he had a slight temperature and was very cuddly but had no other symptoms at this point. By 5am on the Monday morning he was fitting.  

Ben was admitted into the John Radcliffe Children’s Hospital in Oxford where he spent two days before he needed a transfer to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital for specialist care because he had kidney failure.  

Ben was a real fighter. Every few days on life support Ben would try to come off it himself for a short time and eventually he managed it for longer periods at a time. Then his kidneys regained function, but he was left with a bad left sided weakness. He couldn't talk, walk, eat solid food for a while but he was here and with us. 

After a few months we realised there were other problems. By the age of 3 he was walking again, talking and nothing was standing in his way, but he's nearly 7 now and the problems are prevalent in every minute of his life. He has no off switch and cries at night because he can't switch his brain off. He gets a 'fuzzy head' a lot of days that he just can't explain.  

Ben is a very caring and wonderful person who looks after his friends at school. He's very good at school, but finds it hard to concentrate at times and battles fatigue most days. He finds concentrating at school a problem and he hums continually but doesn't realise it's happening, so when he comes home he lets all of his frustrations out. 

He also seems to have lost his barriers to basic safety awareness and is a lot more impulsive. His lack of danger awareness, in and out of the home, is a real worry, especially around roads and traffic. 

After everything he has been through he is doing amazingly well though and is in a mainstream school with supportive teachers and friends and he loves getting up in the morning (most of the time), it's just a continual worry about his day to day safety.  

We are now working with the Child Brain Injury Trust and Dogs for the Disabled on a pilot project using a ‘community dog’ to try and help Ben cope better with some day to day situations. Over the next few months Ben will be spending a few hours a week with the dog and its handler, and they will together be working on developing Ben’s awareness of danger. 

In particular the project will aim to use the dog to encourage Ben to be aware of traffic, to avoid stepping off the pavement whilst walking and to learn to stop at the roadside and be able to cross safely. We are all looking forward to getting started and are keen to see what results are possible. We’re very proud that Ben has recently learnt to ride his bike, and so any improvement of awareness of dangers around roads will be a great result. 

Be Seen Not Hurt Blog Series - Day 4

A bicycle is the greatest thing 

Adventurer & Author Alastair Humphreys shares stories from a life on the road. 

A bicycle is the greatest thing I have ever owned. As a young child it gave me my first sensation of speed and excitement.

In my teens I discovered mountain biking. It was fun, thrilling and cool. It got me fit without having to do boring stuff like "exercise". It showed me wild and beautiful places. And it taught me skills - balance and coordination and perception - with the heady, terrifying, thrilling  undercurrent that if I screwed up -when I screwed up- I was going to crash. And it was going to hurt.

The nervous anticipation of this, like wiggling on a loose tooth, is masochistic, fun, and addictive. If you don't crash occasionally on a mountain bike then you ain't doin' it hard enough. Or something like that.

After university a bicycle showed me the world. I graduated with a Biological Sciences degree, spent an extra year qualifying as a science teacher, and then I hit the road. Tramps like us, baby we were born to ride.
To climb onto a bicycle, a machine that cost just a few hundred pounds, and be able to be magically transported around the entire planet, is extraordinary. Those were the best days of my life. I rose with the sun, cycled all day, and in the evening as the sun was about to set I would pull off the road into a quiet field and camp for the night. I repeated this cycle of simple freedom for over four years.

My bike ride took me from my front door to Cape Town, from southern Patagonia to the Arctic Ocean in northern Alaska, a land of grizzly bears and enormous skies. And it took me home across Asia, via a Siberian winter and the golden road to Samarkand. Along the way was such variety - from those brutal days and nights at -40 on Siberia's Road of Bones to the oppressive heat of Sudan's Nubian Desert.

The only thing that did not vary much were the humans. Meandering through 60 countries I met a fabulous, totally random cross section of humanity. And virtually everyone I met was good. The world is a good place, filled with many, many good people. So I quickly stopped worrying about murderers and terrorists and all the bad crazy terrible stuff everyone forecast would happen to me. Sure, you have to be careful and a little lucky, but by and large I felt safe on that ride.

The only danger then, the only thing really likely to end my trip, was the traffic on the roads. Good though the people of the world may be, they are not generally good drivers! But I successfully and safely cycled 46,000 miles round the world.

I ride a road bike today and love it. I cycle around London on Bromptons and Boris bikes. So I am not scare-mongering about cycling on the roads. Nor do I believe that wearing a helmet should be made legally compulsory. But I choose to wear a helmet when I ride. It's light, it's no longer un-cool and it may one day save my life. I hope not to have to rely on it.

Far better to be a competent rider and aware of your surroundings, whether in Kenya or Croydon, or hurtling as fast as you dare down a twisted path through a forest.

A bicycle is the greatest thing I have ever owned. It has given me so much. The small hassle and expense of getting a helmet is a tiny price to pay for all those good days, and all the good days still to come.

Alastair
www.alastairhumphreys.com 
@al_humphreys 
Adventurer | Author | Motivational Speaker

Be Seen Not Hurt Blog Series - Day 3

Jack’s Story – Mum Terri shares the story of Jack’s brain injury 

Christmas time will never be the same for Jack and his mum after he suffered a severe brain injury the day after Boxing Day back in 2011 whilst visiting family members.  Jack was just 2 years old, and as most independent toddlers do, in the blink of an eye, he ran from the driveway into the road onto a one way street straight into the path of a car that was pulling a trailer.  Jack wasn't hit by the car itself hit.  Jack ran between the back of the car and the front of the trailer.  The reinforced corner of the trailer hit jack up the left side of his face and knocked jack down into the road.  The tyre of the trailer then drove over Jack’s head fracturing his skull and face and squashing his head.  Jack had an open wound inside his mouth from which he was losing a lot of blood. Paramedics arrived and Jack’s mouth, nose and throat were packed to stem the bleeding and Jack was flown by air ambulance to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Jack was put into an induced coma in a critical condition and transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital PICU where mum, Terri, was told that Jack had sustained a severe traumatic brain injury.  Doctors extubated Jack on the 5th January and estimated that he would hold his own from 2-24 hours before he would stop breathing.  His mum was warned that Jack also could choke on his own saliva as there would be no capability to swallow. If Jack stopped breathing, there were two possible options.  Option one, a tracheotomy or the unthinkable second option, take the ventilation tube out and let Jack pass away peacefully with no pain.

But, ever the fighter, little Jack breathed for himself on the first attempt.  Terri, Jack’s mum, then spent many a sleepless night looking at machines and supporting Jack through the many complications he would face over the coming weeks.  Then, the time came when Jack was allowed to return home for the weekend. Terri says  “It was scary taking Jack home that weekend because I'd become his full time carer, nurse and mummy overnight.  The realization of reality was heart wrenching. I'd put a double mattress for us to sleep on the floor in the living room while we had our weekend home.  Jack was still unresponsive and just thrashing around.  He showed no acknowledgement of being home.”

Jack then returned to hospital, went through months of therapies, learnt to use a standing frame and was weaned off a liquid diet onto a diet of soft foods.  Jack was in hospital for 3 months whilst Terri worked with the hospital staff to get jack home and into the community.  Jack came home and his mum became his full time carer.  At home, the living room was padded out with mattresses up the walls and on the floors whilst Terri worked with the professional’s direction and did therapies with Jack for at least 8 hours of the day. Terri was told that the first 12 months were crucial.

Slowly but surely Jack came on.  By Christmas 2012, a year after his accident, Jack could stand independently and try a few steps.  Jack could colour match and shape match using jigsaws.

So, to today.  Jack walks independently but is unstable and prone to falls and can’t walk long distances.  He also wears a protective helmet and boots. Jack has hyper mobility in all joints and has reported vision loss. He has a total loss of hearing on the left and the left side of his face is non expressive. Jack cannot talk but can say ‘no’ in moments of frustration.  Jack is still in nappies and Jack has lots of moments of frustration lasting anything from 5 minutes to 3 hours and he has a soft play ball pit to put him in at those times for his own safety as Jack has no regard for hurting himself or others during a meltdown.

Terri says “Living with ABI is not easy, but we are adapting.  There are always new barriers to get through and Jack is now delayed in many areas but has the potential to keep getting better. We have continuous appointments, therapies, etc for the foreseeable future.  But, Jack is a living little boy.  He is very independent, very adventurous.  Now, when we go to the park I have to climb the adventure park with him. I guess this is how life will be for us from now on - an adventure, but I will be there to help Jack to face the many challenges that lie ahead. In Jack’s head, he is a big boy who should be able to do what the other children are doing.  I am there to help him along the way.”

Be Seen, Not Hurt Blog Series - Day 2

Say Yes to Helmets

Adventurer and World Record holding Skateboarder Dave Cornthwaite shares his story 

A few years ago I took a pay cut in pursuit of a happier life. Well, if I'm honest, it was more than that. I quit my job as a graphic designer in a downtown office in Swansea and decided to skateboard across Australia. I figured I'd see more; meet some interesting folks; get a tan. 

Since then, life has been different. I'm an adventurer now; it's on my business card. I've had three books published, a couple of films made about my travels, and I value my memories more than anything. After all, that's exactly what I'll have to measure my life by when the time comes to look backwards and assess it all.

I'm currently 8 journeys in to my Expedition1000 project. 25 journeys of 1000 miles or more, each using a different form of non-motorised transport. All in all, I've travelled about 8000 miles on road and another 8000 miles on water under my own steam, but I'd like to focus on the road bits, if you don't mind.

In addition to skateboarding the length of Britain and across Australia, I rode a tandem bike 1400 miles from Vancouver to Vegas, ElliptiGO'd 1970 miles across Europe and rode a Bikecar 1000.3 miles across the American South, between Memphis and Miami.

A Bikecar? A what? It was a 4 wheeled pedal car, 5 foot 7 inches wide. Two people could pedal although I was alone for the majority of the journey. Her name was Priscilla and she weighed in at a quarter of a tonne. I pushed her up the hills, heavy old girl.

In the lead-up to every expedition I'm bombarded with warnings from friends, strangers, officials, anyone with a pulse. It's the nature of doing something different that scares people but I always feel like the biggest danger is being on a road.

'Watch out for Memphis drivers', my friends said as I was preparing for the Bikecar ride.

After 18.6 miles, I realised why. A speeding car struck the vehicle to my rear, spun and knocked the Bikecar and me off track. We ended up thirty metres off the road. Ever so lucky to survive with no injury. I was shaken but decided to continue the journey, which I'm so glad I did despite it continuing to be the most dangerous thing I've ever done.

I have five friends who have been either killed or seriously injured whilst cycling on the road. One of them wasn't wearing a helmet and he's not with us anymore.

To a degree you're sacrificing total control and safety because those two things are then in other people's hands. One dropped iPod, a momentary glance at a text, alcohol in the bloodstream, a sneeze: all of these things and more can mean the difference between a safe, enjoyable cycle ride and a visit to A&E.

With all of this in mind, it's imperative for everyone on the road to take as many precautions as they can. Be visible. Be careful. Be respectful - roads are for everyone. And wear a helmet. Quite often it's the difference between life and death, and there are always more journeys to enjoy. Please, protect that possibility.

Dave Cornthwaite
www.davecornthwaite.com
@DaveCorn 

Be Seen, Not Hurt Blog Series - Day 1

Adam’s Story – Anita McQuillan shares the story of her son’s brain injury 

On a quiet Saturday morning in September 2011, my son Adam was waiting excitedly for his Granddad to collect him for a trip to the caravan. He wanted to pick something up from the local shop to take with him on the journey – an off the cuff decision - something which changed the course of our family’s lives forever.

At about 9.30am he pressed the button at a set of traffic lights near our home, looked both ways and – having decided the way was clear – rushed across the road.

He was wearing his brightly coloured footie kit and had crossed that road many times before and thought he’d played it safe.

What Adam didn’t know was that, just out of view, a car was approaching him and would collide with him.  At age 8 ½ his life was changed forever.

The ambulance crew that visited the scene gave him a coma score of three – one of the lowest scores that can be given – before transferring him to hospital in a critical condition.

The image of seeing him there for the first time will never leave me. Clothes cut away from him, open wounds that hadn’t been stitched, tubes protruding from him and the sound of the ventilator. His face was almost unrecognisable, even to me.

The first scan results confirmed our worst fears. He had suffered multiple fractures to his skull, had bone fractures across his medial orbits and sinuses, a generalised cerebral oedema and a parenchymal haemorrhage in his frontal lobe. This was the reality facing my oldest child and only son. Many parents reading this won’t know what those medical terms mean, and  I can only hope that they never have to learn.

Adam was taken to theatre for a tracheotomy and gastrostomy, and had intracranial pressure monitoring bolts put in place to measure the pressure inside his head and an external ventricular drain to help relive the increased pressure.

The next 72 hours were the worst we have ever had to face as a family. He was transferred to a specialist intensive care unit where we again waited for Adam to give us any sign of hope. Doctors prepared us for the worst and said that even if Adam did survive, the chances were that the brain injury was so severe that he wouldn't be able to lead a full life.

December came and we saw small signs of progress. He started to emerge from the coma state and step by step we started to help Adam to slowly rebuild his life.

Our entire life was turned upside down. Acquired brain injury affects families like a stone thrown into a pond – that initial hard impact, followed by ever-increasing ripples. I moved into the hospital to be closer to Adam but that left his Daddy and our six month old daughter at home. Daddy of course came up every day, but it was desperately hard, and the effects took their toll..

My daughter too, despite being less than a year old when this first began, has not escaped the after-effects of brain injury. Some of our little girl’s most important milestones are all forever linked to that traumatic time. She took her first steps in the hospital, ‘Adam’ was her first word and even her earliest memories are of machines, and tubes, and Mummy not being at home.

As time went on, we watched the tubes being removed, procedures taking place and came to understand enough medical terms to last a lifetime.

Finally, the news came that we could start to plan to bring our boy home. His first visit took place on Boxing Day – the best Christmas gift our family could ever hope to receive. Words can’t explain how happy I was to have my family all together to celebrate Adam’s little sister’s first Christmas.

Adam finally left hospital in March 2012 with a gastrostomy feed and fully confined to a wheelchair. But the little boy who went walking to the local shop didn’t come back to us. Adam’s speech has been taken from him and while I long every day to hear ‘Mummy’ or ‘I love you’ or ‘I’m happy’ come from his lips, his smiles still tell me everything I need to know. Just as they always did

Once we got home, we wanted to find something positive to focus on – a way to give something back to everyone who’d supported us during Adam’s journey.

We called our idea “Adam’s Wish” and set about raising over £5,000 for the intensive care unit that had taken such good care of him. We also gathered 549 toys for the hospital’s Christmas appeal.

Perhaps it was karma, but shortly before Christmas Adam was chosen to go on a life changing holiday with Destination Florida. The week he spent there has undoubtedly changed him forever; he returned to us filled with new confidence and laughter having made life-long friends. We went on to raise £5,000 for the initiative so that other children with brain injuries can benefit too.

As a family we had been working tirelessly since his discharge to get Adam access to the therapy, support and schooling he needed to rebuild his life. It was exhausting but knowing that organisations like Destination Florida and the Child Brain Injury Trust were there was a source of comfort.

We were also being supported by Thompsons Solicitors through a challenging legal case to secure the funds we needed to get Adam the best possible care. As a family, we were angry about what had happened to our little boy so our fundraising efforts gave us something positive to focus on.

We also concentrated our energy on rebuilding our family life, and Adam is now the proud big brother to not one but two little sisters.

We haven’t reached the end of the road yet and Adam’s recovery is still on going. He’s learning to walk again but is likely to always rely on a wheel chair and his speech hasn’t returned but to us, he is a miracle.

Now we’re all looking to the future. Adam has started back at mainstream primary school and we’re working on gathering the resources we need to give Adam the best possible future.

Today, we’re a family who has found hope again. It’s something that Adam has taught us - hope that things can get better, despite all of the odds being against you. He is an inspiration to me, a reminder that when you think nothing can heal the wounds or stop the hurt; you’ve got to keep fighting and start to live life.

Adam was 8 ½ when he was knocked down, but he didn’t give up and neither will we. I hope that sharing Adam’s story will help drive the point home. We’d taught him the rules of the road and while not a day goes by that I don’t wish he’d waited for that green man – how many of us can say we’ve never nipped over the road when we thought the way was clear?

He was wearing bright clothing. He’d looked out for traffic. But a driver took away Adam’s chance of safely crossing the road and their own chances of being able to stop in time.

Don’t fall foul of the same mistakes.

Drivers, stick to the speed limit and watch out for children. Don’t assume they’ll use the roads in the same way an adult would. We need to protect them, both as parents and drivers because as they are children they can sometimes make little mistakes with huge consequences. Always approach child pedestrians with extra caution.

Make sure your children are as visible as possible when they’re using the road – the Child Brain Injury Trust and Thompsons are giving away high visibility slap wraps at schools throughout the country so make sure your child wears theirs. Make sure they’re seen, not hurt.

Reach for the Skies

Today's Friday Fundraisers are the intrepid team from Paterson Recruitment in Bicester. They have chosen us as their charity of the year for 2013 and have kicked things off by committing to a sponsored skydive!

Some of the more daring members of staff - Stephanie Harkin, Helen Bailey, & James Varnell - have taken up the challenge and will be leaping 10,000 feet from a plane at Hinton Airfield, just North of Bicester, on Saturday 30th November. They have even talked their company owner, Gary Paterson, into taking part - a good way to lead by example and motivate the team!

After their training and safety briefings in the morning they will hopefully take to the skies at around midday to take part in their freefall. We’ll be going along on the day to cheer them on, and would welcome anyone else to come along and join us.

If you would like show your support to the team from Paterson Recruitment, and the Child Brain Injury Trust, visit their Just Giving page:  www.justgiving.com/PatersonRecruitment

Their fundraising is an exciting way to support the charity and continue to raise awareness for us. Please help us to spread the word and visit our website for more information on our services and forthcoming events.

If you would like to take on a challenge to support us, or would like to talk about other less extreme
fundraising events, get in touch now.

Friday Fundraiser - Great North Run Team

A couple of months ago we wished our team of Great North Runners from JMW the best of luck in their fundraising, and as a follow up we have decided to look at the whole of our Great North Run team to see how they are getting on with only two days until race day.

The Child Brain Injury Trust Great North Run Team comprises of four members from JMW Solicitors and Gillian Brown, a partner from Morisons LLP. Both law firms are members of our Legal Services Directory, and it has been a pleasure working with them over the past few months in the lead up to the Great North Run.

So far our runners have managed to raise over £1500 and there is still more to come in; so please help support their hard work and visit their fundraising pages. Click here for Gillian's and here for team JMW.

Over the years the Great North Run has become one of the most iconic races in the United Kingdom after the London Marathon. The half marathon route set in Newcastle follows out to South Shields and goes across the Tyne Bridge.

We know our runners have worked very hard training and fundraising for the event and would like to wish them all the best of luck for Sunday. I am sure you will all join us in tuning in to BBC One from 9.30am to watch out for them. One runner is going the extra mile and wearing a Cookie Monster outfit, so we expect he won't be easy to miss.

If you think you would like to be part of the Great North Run and raise money for the Child Brain Injury Trust next year, then please contact our Fundraising Coordinator.

Posted by Emily Honey, Fundraising Coordinator.

Road Safety in the News

Thousands Of Pupils Hurt On Roads Near Schools

Recent statistics from Axa Car Insurance and the research body Road Safety Analysis showed:

• There were 85,814 child casualties on roads in a 500-metre radius around UK schools between 2006 and 2011, the equivalent of 1,190 a month.
• There were 557,200 vehicle collisions around schools during the six-year period, the equivalent of six collisions per school per year on average (including any incident reported to police involving any vehicle on a local road. Some did not result in injuries.)
• The top area for collisions was London (13% of total child casualties and 22% of collisions).
• Among cities with more than 100 schools, excluding London, Liverpool had the highest number of road injuries (deaths, serious injuries and slight injuries) around schools, followed by Nottingham, Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester.

The figures include collisions during school holidays, and the child casualty numbers do not necessarily refer to pupils at that particular school.

Road Safety Analysis director Dan Campsall said, "Translating this wealth of data into something that is meaningful for parents, teachers and community leaders has its challenges. However, it is important that these groups are able to understand the immediate road risks around their local schools if they are going to work effectively to secure safer communities for children in the future."

The Child Brain Injury Trust couldn't agree more.  We welcome any data that can help us plan how to keep children and young people safer on the roads.  We will be launching a road safety campaign in Autumn so watch this space!

Beth uses an egg chamber to demonstrate
the importance of seatbelts.

Our Road Safety Work

This week, our Scottish team attended West Drive, a Police Scotland event in Livingston aimed at 16 and 17 year old school pupils, designed to help them make better choices when driving or travelling as passengers in cars.   As always, we were delighted to have the opportunity to share our message about keeping your brain safe, in particular emphasising the importance of everybody in a vehicle wearing a seatbelt.

If you're interested in someone from the Child Brain Injury Trust attending your community event, please email us at info@cbituk.org.




Posted by Claire, Scottish Regional Fundraiser
Via skynews.com: http://news.sky.com/story/1134895/thousands-of-pupils-hurt-on-roads-near-schools

Wild day out at the Safari Park!



Scottish Family Day Success

Digby Brown staff with the balloons!

Almost 100 people attended our annual family day out BBQ at Blair Drummond Safari Park this year.  This is fast becoming the highlight of our year here at the Child Brain Injury Trust's Scottish project; a day that families look forward to as it means meeting up with old friends and making new ones, and having a fun and relaxing day out.  

These days are so important to those we support since a family coping with a brain injury may also be faced with financial difficulties and with the ignorance of the general public who may not understand the behaviour of a child with a brain injury.

We couldn’t offer these days without the support of Digby Brown and we are extremely grateful to them for it.  This year we also had some fabulous – and very popular! – balloons to give away in addition to the usual BBQ lunch.  Our youth group leader, Jim, had organised a circus skills workshop which proved to be a great success.  And the weather was good to us once again.  All in all another great day! 

Modo were on hand to teach some circus skills!

Feedback we received included:

• Thank you for a fantastic day at the safari park, the kids had a ball and all now want to join the circus lol xxx
• Had a fab day at the safari park on Friday. Thanks to CBIT and Digby Brown for pulling it all together. Kids loved their circus training and food and balloon, not to mention seeing all the animals. Xx
• A very hospitable gathering with other people in less adverse circumstances willing to lend an ear and offering support.  Lovely food in a carefree environment.  Refreshingly different!  THANKS!
• First time coming along to BBQ.  Kids have had a fantastic time, was good to meet with Jim also to get information.  Didn’t expect so much and all free!  Amazing.  Thank you.  
• Fun day.  I love the balloons as always and is always a good day.

Families coping after a child has a brain injury may self refer to receive our support, simply call our helpline on 0303 303 2248 or email helpline@cbituk.org.  You can also join the other families we support around the UK on our Facebook page.  If you are interested in fundraising for the Scottish project, please contact Claire via clairemurray@cbituk.org.

Friday Fundraiser - Our very own ‘Iron Man’

Today's Friday Fundraiser is our very own charity trustee Andy Caudell. This week we have chosen to highlight Andy as he has just completed a fantastic feat of physical challenge, by competing in an half iron man distance triathlon.

Triathlon races are very popular now and all sorts of people are taking part. Not many people are brave, or fit, enough to take on the 70.3 miles that make up a half iron man though. That's a 1.2 mile open water swim to start with, then a 56 mile bike ride followed by a 13.1 mile run!

We’d like to say huge congratulations to Andy on completing the challenge, and thank him for all the hard work and training he put in. We would also like to thank all the people who sponsored Andy, he has raised nearly £800 in sponsorship so far. Our thanks go to all of these individuals for choosing to support families affected by childhood brain injury.

If you would like show your support to Andy and the Child Brain Injury Trust you can visit his Just Giving page.

Andy’s challenge took place at the Cotswold Water Park near Cirencester in Gloucestershire. Entering the chilly lake water at 6.50am, Andy spent the next few hours swimming, cycling and running before crossing the finish line just after lunch.

Our Community Fundraiser, Andrew Tee, was lucky enough to go along and cheer Andy on during the run stage of the race; "it was a truly inspirational event. There were people of all abilities taking part, and an enthusiastic crowd cheered every last one of them across the line." 

Andy Caudell joined the Child Brain Injury Trust as a Trustee in 2012, and since then he has been an active supporter, and continues to lead by example.

“I feel duty-bound, as a proud Trustee of this wonderful organisation, to do anything that I can that raises funds and highlights the very important role the Child Brain Injury Trust can play in easing the challenges ahead for those families we support.”

Andy’s fundraising is an exciting way to support the charity and continue to raise awareness in the future. Please help us to spread the word and visit our website for more information on our services and forthcoming events.

If you would like to take on a challenge to support us, or would like to talk about other less extreme fundraising events, get in touch NOW.

Buckle Up!

Thoughts on wearing a safety helmet from our Community Fundraiser, Andrew Tee.

I read a post on Facebook this week from an old school friend that really made me think. I’d like to share with you what my friend Hilary said:

“Have just driven by a young lady riding a horse on a busy main road with the strap to her riding hat flapping in the wind!!! Many a Saturday morning as a young girl was spent in my dads' office where he kept the crash helmets and riding hats of head injury patients. Each of them told a story and thankfully most had a happy ending. These helmets/hats are designed for a reason, to save lives but only if worn properly so DO UP THE STRAPS!!!!”

Hilary’s dad worked for years as a brain surgeon in Oxford. He spent his career dealing with people who had sustained head injuries from accidents and falls. He himself cycled daily into work for many years, “My dad used to cycle to work wearing an ice hockey helmet, he looked like a bit of an idiot but it saved his life at least once when he was knocked off!” said Hilary.

I responded to this message with my own tale of the week, seeing a young man riding through the centre of Oxford, a famously busy and quite dangerous place to cycle, holding his cycle helmet in his teeth by the strap!

It seems crazy that people will go to the trouble of buying a helmet, but don’t bother using it properly. Wearing a helmet that is not properly fitted or fastened is as good as not wearing it at all.
I think people underestimate how much of a difference wearing a helmet properly can make if you have an accident on your bike, fall off a horse, or get things wrong in the skate park. I have had several lucky escapes from head injury, and every time it has been a safety helmet that has saved me from injury.
I have spent years cycling into work and have had a couple of notable occasions where I’ve taken a trip across the bonnet of a car. Both times I landed head first onto the road, and both times my helmet took the force of impact. Both times it was properly fitted, and most importantly it was securely fastened by the strap!
If you’re going to be cycling, horse riding, skateboarding, skiing or snowboarding, it’s really important that you take proper care of your head and wear a good quality helmet that is properly fitted. I know kids don’t think it’s cool to wear a helmet, but we must remind them that’s it’s even less cool to end up needing the services of someone like my friend Hilary’s dad!

For information on the correct sizing and fitting of cycle helmets, have a look at the links and image below:
http://www.bhit.org/

Don’t forget, if you need a good quality cycle helmet you can support the charity by purchasing one from our eBay shop. The helmets are really good quality and we’re able to offer them at a reduced price, just for you! Click here to buy yours now.

If you’d like to talk about supporting the charity, please get in touch.