In 2012 David sadly sustained a serious brain injury requiring immediate hospital treatment. Whilst struggling with the aftermath of brain injury David’s life was changed again when he was made redundant from his role as CEO in the same year. He suffered a period of depression upon realising that he was not able to return to work due to the on-going cognitive effects of his brain injury.

His wife Marie struggled to find the most appropriate care and advice after the injury as David was unable to comprehend what had happened and was dealing with severe post traumatic amnesia at the time as well.

Whilst Marie found the information and online communities provided by Headway helpful, she still found it difficult to deal with the effects of her partner having a brain injury:  

“The whole post brain injury phase is very difficult as a partner. You find yourself living with a stranger, the grief never quite goes away for the old person that you lost and it takes a lot of effort on both sides to build a new relationship and to find a new normal”

Sadly this is often the norm for many, and one of the worst consequences of brain injury is feeling as if the person who was once known and loved has somehow slipped away. Whilst for the person with a brain injury, losing a sense of their own identity is traumatic and frightening. 

For this reason, experiencing brain injury can be similar to going through bereavement: the healing process is made up of grief, denial, anger, acceptance, and finally, resolution. This process can take many years to run its course, and the feelings experienced may not present in any particular order.

Despite these challenges and even when David’s depression had reached its worst, they somehow both found the strength to move forward. In 2013 Marie agreed to give up work with the aim of focusing on David’s recovery and they moved to the coast. They brought David a bike and he started training, even though his balance was not fully recovered. Marie explained that this gave them purpose and direction and also importantly gave David a challenge to work toward. 

David went on to successfully complete several cycling challenges for charity and in particular he completed the Tour de Broads, a 100 mile cycle ride in 2015.

After these successes, both David and Marie felt a new challenge was needed, one that would really test David. So it was in January 2017 that David was accepted onto the Clipper 2017/2018 Round the World Yacht Race.

The race itself is extremely tough, and is one of the biggest challenges of the natural world, an endurance test like no other. David will be at sea for 11 months. Together with other crew members onboard he will be travelling over 40,000 nautical miles. Normally this challenge would be taken on by seasoned pros, however having completed a rigorous training course, ordinary participants are suited and booted in the latest extreme protection gear to commence the race of their lives! To find out more and really understand the challenges David will be facing, visit the Clipper Round The World Race website.

David is likely to have a series of days where he has next to no sleep as he helps to sail the boat overnight, something that will have a bigger impact on him as, like many brain injury survivors, he suffers with sleep problems and fatigue.  David and Marie have also discovered other issues caused by the brain injury, such as the speed in which he can process new information as well as retaining it due to memory problems.

Despite all the above challenges and more David and Marie have worked hard to support each other and face the challenges forced upon them together. Marie goes on to say:

“I miss the David I married but we have rebuilt a new relationship that works well. The loss of emotion is very tough. But we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary in June, almost 5 years after the brain injury”

Your Support

David and Marie’s commitment to helping others who have been similarly affected is wonderful and we are hugely grateful for their support.

 If you would like to support David with his incredible challenge, you can donate online to his Just Giving page.