Two times, Dancing on Ice star Alex Murphy was 24 years old when she had a stroke that left her unable to walk, talk and pursue her passion as a professional ice-skater. Alex has lived experience that our supporters identify with. She helps SameYou champion the cause and spread awareness for the need for change in rehabilitation care after a brain injury or stroke.
Chéri Ballinger, former model/actress and now film producer and entrepreneur, suffered a severe Traumatic Brain Injury in 2014 after a fall onto cement in an action scene on the set. Since her TBI on that day, her life has never been the same. Chéri’s recovery was full of challenges related to having female-specific symptoms that threw her doctors off.
Read Chéri's story here
On January 9, 2018, Faith sustained a concussion and a traumatic brain injury when she was hit from behind in a motor vehicle accident on her way to work.
Life took a sudden turn and she knew she had to figure something out fast. That's when she decided to do one thing for herself every day to honor and nourish herself: write herself a self-care note. By sharing her content about mental health online and her personal healing journey, she has inspired over 305,000 people, and counting, via social media to choose introspection, gratitude and finding peace in things most take for granted.
Faith has almost 15 years of experience as a professional school counselor and mental health counselor and also worked as a baker and a food blogger, before shifting to writing inspirational affirmations on pieces of handmade paper following her brain injury, and publishing two guided journals on the transformative power of self-care and self-love.
Find out more about Faith here
I had a tremendous amount of help to clamber back up and return to a 'normal life'. If you do not have that help, maybe you are not able to stand back up. I try to share the compass NOT the Map, to help people navigate their way back to the SameYou. This is all rather simple, but NOT easy to do!
Read Dan's story here
Advocating for brain injury rehabilitation is important to me because my family has a history of brain aneurysms. I survived what many of my loved ones did not. It is important for me to spread awareness for prevention, but also bring attention to gaps in aftercare for those who may be impacted in the future.
Listen to Emily's meditation here
You may know Greg as the AVM Superhero on social media. After motivating a friend to move forward with life after a stroke, Greg realised he had the power to help others, carers and survivors. Once a month, he gives out a basket to caregivers and started an Instagram series called "Death Taught Us How to Live".
Read Greg's story here
Having access to better brain injury rehab is monumental towards the next part of a survivors' life. My brain injuries have changed my life and I would love these changes to be more positive for future generations.
Listen to Bella's podcast with Jenny here
Advocating for better brain injury rehabilitation is important to me because I believe everyone is far more capable than they realise and with the right support, tools and inspiration, it is possible for survivors to thrive and live their life to the fullest post injury.
Read Georgie's story here
Advocating for brain injury is important to me because it is critical to show others who are maneuvering their own journey to keep pushing forward, to never give up, and that recovery is possible.
Read Olivia's bio here
Chiara was two years old and 10 months when she suffered a stroke from the chickenpox virus. This resulted in right hand side hemiplegia and severe dyslexia. She is not able to use her right hand arm at all and does day-to-day tasks one-handed. Raising awareness of stroke in young people is important to Chiara to support them in learning to live with a brain injury and disability. Chiara helps raise awareness through her YouTube channel and now as a SameYou Advocate.
Find out more about Chiara's work here
In 2005, Tim suffered a severe epileptic seizure and was eventually diagnosed with two benign brain tumours and a hypoxic brain injury. Following his brain injury, Tim faced various challenges with his mental health. Through his rehabilitation, he developed a strong passion for helping fellow brain injury survivors. He runs a number of support groups and he is a speaker at brain injury conferences.
Find out more about Tim's story here