"Headway has given me back my life" - Joan's Story
Before 2005, I was a happy-go-lucky person with no worries, working as a Care Assistant in a nursing home. I loved my job, it was my life and I had great friends there. I got on well with patients and staff the same. I was a normal Mother to 3 great children.
Then in 2005, everything went wrong. I was getting ready to leave home for work one morning when I collapsed in the kitchen. I don't remember anything more than that. After my return home from hospital, I was a different person. My outlook had completely changed. My job was gone and my friends all seemed to drift away. I suppose they all got on with their lives. I was sitting in the house wondering why God didn't take me and why I had been left like this.
During my time in the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) it was discovered that I had dyspraxia, which affected my coordination. I couldn't even sweep the floor and I found it hard to get dressed. It is worse when you don't know what it wrong with you. Dyspraxia can also be embarrassing if people don't understand. Once I knew what it was, I learnt how to practice my movements more slowly and it has improved a lot since then.
While I was in the NRH, I found out about ABI Ireland. I went for an assessment there and was assigned a Personal Assistant (PA). At the time I didn't even want to leave the house, and the PA helped me with this. Slowly, I started to leave the house and go for walks, which I hadn't done for a long time. The ABI Ireland staff started looking for services for me that would help me to socialise more and help to build my confidence. My family all thought I was fine because I was walking and talking but I knew I needed more help. This is the hardest part of brain injury - because you look okay people think you are doing fine.
I went for an assessment in Headway and from there I then started a 2 year Rehabilitative Training course in the Headway centre in Clondalkin. Up to then I felt that nobody understood me, that I was an outcast. I went to Headway and I felt I was home. People understood me and understood each other. I can't describe it. I actually found a place for me. From being stuck in the house 24/7, I was now getting buses every day to Clondalkin. In Headway I did sessions in Brain Injury Awareness, Personal Development and Preparation for Work - these all helped to build my confidence, which had been on the floor. It helped me to understand my injury and that I wasn't on my own.
I also worked closely with Samantha, the Community Re-integration Officer in Clondalkin, who works with people on a one to one basis to help them find opportunities in their own area. Between Samantha and the other staff, they wouldn't let me sit around feeling sorry for myself. I was encouraged to do anything I was capable of and I was given the belief in myself to go even further than that.
Through Headway I started volunteering in the Hospice, which made me realise that Care Work wasn't for me anymore. I always believed this was all I could do because it was what I had done in the past but by this time I knew there were more possibilities out there for me. I am interested now in computers and have recently signed up for some FAS courses which I would never have had the courage to do before. Through Headway I also got a place in a local support group for family members of people with addiction problems. This group has been a godsend for me. I am also a member of Bri and have received great support from them.
I finished my Rehabilitative Training in Headway in August 2010 and Samantha continued to see me on a one to one basis for a few months after this, which gave me enough support and encouragement to carry on. My week is now quite busy between attending support groups and courses and I could not have done this without building up my confidence the way I did in Headway.
Headway has given me back my life - as it is, not as it was. This is a huge acceptance that takes a long time to come around to. Headway helped me to do this. If I knew of anyone with a brain injury who did not know of Headway, I would encourage them to give Headway a ring so that they can be helped that way I was helped."