This week (March 11-17) is National Brain Injury Awareness Week. The Mercury is profiling some of the people affected by this disability and looking at the work being done to help them in our area.

Grahame Hargreaves of Wigston was a keen road-racing cyclist. He had left early one July Sunday in 1997 for a 100-mile race in the Kettering area. His wife Betty takes up the story.

"At about 8.30am that morning the police arrived to say Grahame had had been knocked off his bike by a large lorry and was in the Kettering Hospital. We were told he had multiple injuries, including serious damage to his skull. The next day they discovered serious brain damage. He was moved to the Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham for emergency surgery, and eventually, to save his life, it was decided to remove the damaged part of the brain. We were told that this would result in some form of disability but no one could predict how much.

After 3 weeks Grahame was transferred to the LRI. For the first few days he was sedated because he was trying to get out of bed; he was very confused. As the weeks passed, Grahame started to do things for himself. His speech was beginning to come back, but it made no sense at all. It was made-up words and he just couldn't understand what people were saying to him. It was so hard for everyone who visited him. He would recognise people but could not remember the names even of close family members.
By October he was in the General Hospital, where he received physiotherapy and speech therapy, but he became very depressed; his speech wasn't getting any better and he was difficult to handle. In December he was allowed home for a few hours each week and then for weekends. During his time in the General we met Sylvia Davis from Headway, who told us how his rehabilitation might be helped.
He was discharged after 8 months in hospital, but he had lost most of his independence. After being home for a short while he started going to Headway 2 days a week, which he really enjoys and with the help of the staff there he's made some lovely things and done some nice paintings. His speech has improved but even four and a half years since the accident he still has difficulty understanding."
Grahame didn't like wearing a cycling helmet. On that fateful day it was still in its box.
Headway is an independent organisation, helping victims of brain injury and their families. It relies on voluntary donations to fund many of its services.
You can find out more by email by clicking here.