Survivor Stories

In the summer of 2009, at the age of 44, my life changed forever. An active, full-time mom and wife, I suddenly began to experience troubling symptoms. 

After her team finished swimming preliminaries during the conference, Nicole returned to her room to rest and later experienced an ischemic stroke. 

Enisa shares her story of experiencing an intracerebral hemorrhage caused by a cavernoma, and the ups and downs of her recovery process. 

Lacy is a huge fan of Emilia since her portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones. As someone with a rare ABI, and after hearing of Emilia's story, Lacy was inspired to become a volunteer and is loving every minute of it!

Jelena's story helps raise awareness of the potential effects of a mosquito bite that carries the West Nile virus.

Amy tells us of how a brain tumour completely changed her life and of how having a tight support system during recovery is essential to learn to move forward.

On December 7, 2004, I was 34 years young, strong and very healthy. While I was riding my horse, I suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

Around 11pm, about two hours into my shift, I was getting some pickle juice from the walk-in cooler in the back and as I was walking back, to the bar, was when it hit me suddenly.  

In June 2022, my dad Malcolm had a cardiac arrest and my mum did CPR for 18 minutes while she waited for the ambulance to arrive.

While fighting leukemia, Madeleena had a stroke which changed the course of her young adult life.

On January 13th, 2022, after a week of extreme headaches, I had a seizure and stroke in the car as my mother drove me to the ER. A neurosurgeon quickly identified an AVM hemorrhage and began to operate. A third of my skull was removed so the AVM could be removed, and I sat in a coma (possibly sedated) for a month with a tracheotomy.

Trying to understand what was going on, I went to an otorhinolaryngologist and a neurologist, but they said everything was fine. The conclusion was that most likely this was the effect of anesthesia after an operation. An MRI was ordered, but unfortunately, the results showed that I had suffered a micro stroke.

After waking up in the morning, Kevin felt a pain like he had never felt. It subsided for a short time, then bang! It was back again. A brain hemorrhage had occurred.

Mary experienced a traumatic brain injury aged 2 years old. She tells us about the lifelong impact of a fall as a toddler.

On New Year’s Eve, 2001, I was about to get high on the purest drugs. Sadly, it was in the neurosurgery prep room.

Tobias is a brain injury survivor who had to learn to walk, eat and talk again after suffering a devastating aneurysm. He spoke of the “moving” moment he crossed the finish line after taking part in SameYou’s Cycle Ibiza challenge.  

I got married on 2nd May 2021. My husband and I had been married a whole 16 days before I sustained a TBI.

At 28, I was leading a healthy, active life. After an optometrist appointment to identify the cause of my persistent headaches, I was handed a sealed envelope and told to go directly to the hospital. What followed, was emergency brain surgery.

I was diagnosed with Meningitis Brain Tuberculosis in November 2020 that resulted in a brain infection and stroke which hampered my vision, my comprehension and the worst: my 30 years of memory.