DANIEL PALMER
METRO VANCOUVER
Published: December 07, 2011 5:45 a.m.
Last modified: December 07, 2011 3:47 p.m.
Mayor Gregor Robertson meets with David McGuire at city hall yesterday to declare Run to Remember Day in Vancouver. McGuire will complete his cross-Canada run on Friday in Victoria and aims to raise awareness of preventable brain injury.
Six years ago, David McGuire’s parents were told their son might never wake up.
McGuire had suffered a massive bleed in his brain — thought to have been caused by cumulative concussions — and had spent nine days in a coma.
“I had my skull removed for 29 days,” he said. “I went through a whole ‘poor me’ attitude for like two years,” he said.
Yesterday, Mayor Gregor Robertson honoured McGuire by declaring Dec. 5 Run to Remember Day.
It commemorates McGuire’s eight-month run across Canada to promote awareness of preventable brain injury — not a small feat for someone with significant brain trauma.
“They base your recovery on how much of the old you you get back, but there’s no getting to know the new you,” McGuire said.
“So I ran because it was something I could do myself.”
McGuire said the lasting effect of his injury is short-term memory loss, but that hasn’t stopped him from joining forces with BrainTrust Canada to promote preventable brain injury at schools across the country.
McGuire said 90 per cent of brain injuries are preventable, usually by wearing a helmet. Brain injuries are also the leading cause of death and disability in people under the age of 44.
“A simple concussion — there’s no such thing. At the end of the day, a concussion is a brain injury,” said McGuire, Magda Kapp of BrainTrust Canada said there are scarce long-term resources available to people with brain injuries.
“A huge amount of resources are spent to save their life, but after they’re dismissed out of the hospital, then what?” Kapp said.
“Once people start to lose their friends and family support systems, they just spiral downward.”
That downward spiral can sometimes lead to homelessness. A 2009 Toronto study found up to 58 per cent of the homeless have suffered traumatic brain injury.
Kerry Jang, city councillor and Mental Health Commission of Canada spokesman, said Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside sees the same prevalence of brain injuries.
Jang said the city has implemented the Urban Health Initiative and other programs to help DTES workers distinguish between brain injury and mental illness behaviour.
Jang believes the city can do more to help prevent brain injury such as by enforcing cyclist helmet use.
“As Coun. Meggs found out when he had his accident — his helmet saved him,” said Jang, referring to Meggs’ March 2010 cycling accident that resulted in Meggs being hospitalized.
McGuire will complete his cross-Canada run on Dec. 9 in Victoria.
To donate, go to runtoremember.com.
http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/local/article/1043772--shedding-light-on-brain-injury
McGuire had suffered a massive bleed in his brain — thought to have been caused by cumulative concussions — and had spent nine days in a coma.
“I had my skull removed for 29 days,” he said. “I went through a whole ‘poor me’ attitude for like two years,” he said.
Yesterday, Mayor Gregor Robertson honoured McGuire by declaring Dec. 5 Run to Remember Day.
It commemorates McGuire’s eight-month run across Canada to promote awareness of preventable brain injury — not a small feat for someone with significant brain trauma.
“They base your recovery on how much of the old you you get back, but there’s no getting to know the new you,” McGuire said.
“So I ran because it was something I could do myself.”
McGuire said the lasting effect of his injury is short-term memory loss, but that hasn’t stopped him from joining forces with BrainTrust Canada to promote preventable brain injury at schools across the country.
McGuire said 90 per cent of brain injuries are preventable, usually by wearing a helmet. Brain injuries are also the leading cause of death and disability in people under the age of 44.
“A simple concussion — there’s no such thing. At the end of the day, a concussion is a brain injury,” said McGuire, Magda Kapp of BrainTrust Canada said there are scarce long-term resources available to people with brain injuries.
“A huge amount of resources are spent to save their life, but after they’re dismissed out of the hospital, then what?” Kapp said.
“Once people start to lose their friends and family support systems, they just spiral downward.”
That downward spiral can sometimes lead to homelessness. A 2009 Toronto study found up to 58 per cent of the homeless have suffered traumatic brain injury.
Kerry Jang, city councillor and Mental Health Commission of Canada spokesman, said Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside sees the same prevalence of brain injuries.
Jang said the city has implemented the Urban Health Initiative and other programs to help DTES workers distinguish between brain injury and mental illness behaviour.
Jang believes the city can do more to help prevent brain injury such as by enforcing cyclist helmet use.
“As Coun. Meggs found out when he had his accident — his helmet saved him,” said Jang, referring to Meggs’ March 2010 cycling accident that resulted in Meggs being hospitalized.
McGuire will complete his cross-Canada run on Dec. 9 in Victoria.
To donate, go to runtoremember.com.
http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/local/article/1043772--shedding-light-on-brain-injury
No comments:
Post a Comment