In my opinion: Victims of brain injury need our support

FORGETTING your mum's birthday or where you've put your car keys.

Remembering how to send an e-mail or where to catch the bus home.

These are a few of the difficulties people who have suffered brain injury face on a daily basis - simple things that those who haven't often take for granted.

Along with memory problems, many people face months or years feeling isolated and lost, as if they have been sucked into a black hole.

Many have suffered traumatic accidents, had strokes, or have underlying inherited conditions which can lead to haemorrhage, causing weeks or months of hospital treatment and years of difficulty on the long road back to normality.

Services do exist to help those unfortunate enough to go through this, such as Momentum - Glasgow's only vocational rehabilitation programme for people with brain injury.

I had never heard of the service until two months ago, when I met a confident young man.

He told me how he had developed encephalitis and after getting out of hospital he struggled with anxiety and depression until he started going to Momentum.

Six months before I met him, he said he would have been unrecognisable if it were not for the service, which is now due to shut down after funding was cut.

It is run by a team of six enthusiastic, caring staff, who help a small group get their confidence back and get ready to return to work.

Go here to read the rest:
In my opinion: Victims of brain injury need our support