Have you ever looked back on your life and thought, ‘if only I knew then, what I know now…'? Whether it’s dramas with love, family, or your career, we all learn from our experiences and eventually become all the wiser for it.

This month we talk to brain injury survivor Kate Johns about what she wished she'd known as a 25-year-old. Twelve years ago her life changed forever when she was struck by a car while crossing the road, smashing head first into the windscreen. Although Kate received immediate medical attention for her obvious external injuries, the trauma to her brain was overlooked. A few hours after regaining consciousness Kate was sent home with not so much as a mention of concussion or brain injury, let alone a plan for recovery. A

Although what happened that day and in the weeks following the accident were traumatic, it was the years to come that proved the hardest for Kate to deal with. Living with the effects of brain injury made day to day life very difficult; memory loss, sensitivity to light and noise and emotional problems, such as severe anxiety made it more difficult to manage and cope. Finally after five years of not knowing or understanding what was wrong, Kate received help. 



If there is one thing I want you to know, it is that these darkest days will pass. I know you’re confused, and you’re scared and more than anything you feel overwhelmingly lost and alone right now, but you can – and you will - get through this. You are much stronger than you give yourself credit for.

You will have to fight (and fight and fight and fight) to be believed but you won’t give up because you know you’re not imagining things. One day someone will finally hear you. There will be days when your loudest requests for help are met with silence, and it is then that you will realize that the greatest ally you have is yourself. You may be vulnerable but you are by no means weak. Believe me, you’re as stubborn as a rock when you want to be!

It will take you a while to be okay with who you are now, how you look now, and the way in which this new world sees you. Sometimes people are going to be really hurtful, but try and remember that that’s a reflection on who they are, and not on you. You will have to slowly let go of all those things that you’ve used to define yourself by because that old life you still want so badly is no longer a life you can have. You will bang your head against that wall a thousand times over before you finally accept that!

If you can just hang in there, you will finally find that person who believes in you and get the help you need. You will befriend amazing people who love you because of who you are, not in spite of it. You will experience triumphs and successes that took a whole decade to reach – and they are that much more monumental because of the journey it took to get there.

You will learn to be kind to yourself, to breathe, to live each day as it comes – those are gifts more precious than you can ever know. And then the most life-changing gift of all - a beautiful, beautiful daughter who will keep bringing you back to the light through those dark times and heartache - she will change you forever.

And through it all, you will come to realize that the greatest person you can be is not who you left behind but the person you are now. You are you – and that is more than enough.

After five years of not knowing or understanding what was wrong, Kate finally received help. “I have been incredibly fortunate to have had the Brain Injury Association assist me in liaising with ACC, WINZ, IRD and mediation, as well as to gain support through focus groups, advocacy and information” says Kate.  

The Brain Injury Appeal runs from the 12 – 21st June 2009. Street collectors will be in all main centers and donations can also be made online at brain-injury.org.nz. Your support in raising awareness and understanding of brain injury is greatly appreciated