Canadian Mother Highlights Long-Term Impact Of Brain Injuries

A 50-year-old woman is writing a book about the long-term impact of brain injuries.

Sharon Campbell-Rayment told the Mirror she wants to help others who might be finding it hard to recover from a blow to the head.

The mother-of-two from Canada fell off a horse in Ontario in 2008 and has been dealing with the symptoms of brain trauma ever since.

Her condition makes it harder to make decisions, concentrate and solve problems, while the injury also left her with extreme sensitivity to light, anxiousness around crowds and regular headaches.

She also developed foreign accent syndrome - which experts believe affects just 60 people across the globe.

Having regained her speech a few days after the accident, Ms Campbell-Rayment started speaking with a Scottish accent and doctors said this could either disappear overnight or stay with her for the rest of her life.

There is a general lack of understanding when it comes to the long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries, as the symptoms are usually invisible.

However, Ms Campbell-Rayment hopes her book - which she plans to finish this year - will raise awareness of the issue.

"I wanted to write it for myself and to tell my story - but also to help other people going through a similar experience," she was quoted as saying.

"Brain injuries can be hard for people to understand because there are no physical signs. But they change your life. It's been like starting all over again. I'm a completely different person."

Although she has started to ride horses again, Ms Campbell-Rayment has transformed her horse-riding retreat into a therapy centre for people who are recovering from a brain injury.

According to Headway - the brain injury association - around one million patients are living with the effects of a head injury in the UK alone and hospital admissions continue to rise year after year.

Expert Opinion

Brain and head injuries can be so complex and affect people in completely different ways. It is important that we all continue to learn and understand what the short and long term impacts are for the sufferers and the surrounding friends and family involved. <br/> <br/>“The book written by Sharon will hopefully educate people to what problems and decisions people face and highlight the amount of effort, support and courage it takes to aid recovery. <br/> <br/>“We see first-hand in our work with serious injury victims that those who have a brain injury do not always display physical symptoms. <br/> <br/>“The more we can understand brain injuries and the consequences that follow, it can only assist us in offering the best available support to help the injured get their lives back on track.” <br/> Colin Ettinger - Consultant