Develop a solution to help people with brain injury, and their friends and families, quickly
and easily identify and access all the resources and support available to help them recover or adapt to life with brain injury.
Seeker's Story
My name is Kate, and I am a Mother of three young boys – one of which, Brandon, had a brain injury at the age of 11. The critical nature of this treatment has lead
to an intense period of recovery, not only for Brandon, but for the whole family. My husband and I found it hard to work and support the requirements of our family, and
another of my sons found it incredibly difficult to adjust to a life where his idol, his big brother, was no longer able to give him the support that he was used to. For
the first year following the accident, I and my 9 year old son required help due to post traumatic stress after witnessing Brandon fighting for his life. Within weeks of
the accident, my husband was made redundant as it became very clear that we were both needed at home for Brandon's rehabilitation and the recovery of our whole family. Shortly
after that, we were made homeless when we were asked to leave our rented accommodation and were financially unable to move which added to the intensity of the situation.
My husband and I had to give up our jobs to become full time carers, learn about and depend on the benefits system, navigate the social housing system and network with various
professionals including those involved with brain injury, rehabilitation and family therapy.
I spent the majority of my time in the early months after leaving the hospital setting looking for help to signpost us to appropriate
support services; financial, practical and social. One particular service that we have found through CCPNR (Cambridge Centre for Paediatric Neuropsychological
Rehabilitation) is the Child Brain Injury Trust. A support worker was assigned to us and has worked with us to find services and support my son in his return to school.
The support is of course limited, and I have found myself spending hours at a time desperately searching the internet in hope of identifying services and chasing up potential
sources of funding for my sons' rehabilitation.
My challenge to the MYH solvers to provide an affordable, accessible, comprehensive and interactive signposting portal for patients and carers following brain injury.