Maggie survived a blood clot in her brain only a year or so ago, which changed her life forever. She was only 20 at the time and was lucky to survive. She has recently moved in with her boyfriend in Sheffield, but I met her when she was living in Dereham, Norfolk and attending our Headway coffee morning at The Forum, Norwich.  Despite her ABI Maggie had managed to hold down her job at Aviva and is making great progress.

Peter trained as a building surveyor in London, before moving back to East Anglia.  After this he was in a car accident with his friends and wife, but they survived against all the odds.It wasn’t until they left the hospital that he had a stroke and acquired a brain injury (ABI).Peter then had to have a craniotomy to release the pressure in his brain.  Amazingly, he is around today to tell his story.

Andrew was riding his motorbike one day just outside Norwich and had a collision with a car and was left with a traumatic brain injury. Andrew survived and is here to tell us his incredible story which could have been life or death.

James was a young pilot working for BA. He was socialising in Paris with his friend and co- pilot and two cabin crew. They were scheduled to fly back the next morning. James recounts the moment when he decided to show off and jump over a bannister in the hotel, not realising there was a two floor drop onto a marble floor. James is a very charismatic story-teller and has embraced many positive changes during his 18 year recovery.

In early 2022 Sam Wigg was riding his pushbike home late one evening after socialising with friends. He was found unconscious in a ditch with no recollection of what happened, but he had suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Sam has taken on the challenge of developing his cognitive abilities and is making very good progress. It’s still early days and here is his Headpod story.

Emma Martins, Lived Experience Communicator
Headway, Norfolk & Waveney

In 2011 James Piercy was involved in a car accident with his family. Thankfully, James' three children were not injured, but his wife was tragically killed and he was left unconcious with a serious traumatic brain injury. James has now re married and is committed to continuing his recovery and sharing his passion of public speaking to inspire other brain injury surviviors. Hope you enjoy this incredible podcast.

To find out more about James Piercy:

TedTalk - https://youtu.be/jJ3BwZPhyMM
Twitter - @thepiercy
Radio 4 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05w3xpk
Ways of Speaking - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRwdeeZIW4Y&list=PLtlg_22h4On6I7bj-0RSqhtD0pj54uBG-

Rob grew up in Norwich and fell into drug addiction from a young age. Luckily Robert survived falling from a second floor onto concrete, he now lives independently with a brain injury. He tells us his story of addiction and coming out the other side. Robert does talks and is also involved in a choir. Rob believes if hadn’t had the accident he would have died from drugs. He is extremely thankful to Headway for all their support.

Tammy got kicked in the head by a horse as a small child. Twenty years later she started having epileptic fits which were then linked to her accident. She worked at Headway but is now a teaching assistant in Norfolk. Her story is incredible and shows that years after an accident knock on affects can occur.

In todays Headpod we are meeting Mark Baldwin, who survived an aneurysm at the age of only 23. Mark and I will be talking about how Headway have supported him over the last two years, his recovery and getting back in the driving seat. Disclaimer: this podcast contains material that some may find distressing.

In todays Headpod we are speaking to Mandy Hathway, who suffered a stroke at just 20 years old. Mandy's story underlines the fact that strokes don't just happen later on in life they can happen at any time at any age. Today Mandy is a support worker at our Norwich centre. Having lived with the impact of brain injury on her own life she has a great deal of experience to bring to others.