IT Consultant Is Still Going Through Extensive Rehabilitation Programme 16 Months After Near-Fatal Crash

A cyclist who was left with serious brain injuries after being hit by a car on a Reading roundabout is speaking out about his recovery as part of Headway the Brain Injury Association’s Action For Brain Injury Week.

Peter Hughes, from Hungerford, Berkshire, is still going through an extensive rehabilitation programme for his injuries 16 months after the crash on November 20, 2015.

His partner Janet instructed expert serious injury lawyers Irwin Mitchell to investigate the collision, which happened at Reading’s Vastern Road roundabout on the A329 during Friday morning rush hour, and help Peter access the best possible care.

The 57-year-old IT Consultant was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxfordshire after suffering bleeding on the brain - among other serious head injuries.

He was transferred to the neuro-intensive care unit where he was kept under sedation before being moved to Royal Berkshire Hospital’s intensive care unit and on to the hospital’s neuro rehabilitation ward where he remained until January 27, 2016.

Peter is now joining expert serious injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell in speaking out about life after the crash as part of Action For Brain Injury Week.

Taking place from May 8 to 14, this year’s annual campaign week organised by Headway is based around the theme of life after brain injury and how such injuries have a lasting impact on not only survivors but also their families and carers.

As part of its work Headway has established ‘a new me’, a platform for people to share experiences which has been created to both challenge misconceptions about brain injury and also highlight the value that the right support can provide.

Peter’s speech and language was severely affected by his head injury, especially reading, writing and word-finding and he had speech and language therapy at Oaksey House rehabilitation centre to help him. He has also attended a workshop run jointly by Headway Thames Valley and local NHS staff designed to help people understand and cope with the changes a brain injury or condition can bring about. Peter found this workshop very helpful, particularly being able to meet and talk to people in a similar position to himself.

He said: “I often find myself being unable to recognise or understand words and my spelling has deteriorated severely.

“I still have issues with reading and understanding emails and written instructions as well as continued difficulty writing. I struggle with remembering names, places and instructions and that has created a huge hurdle in terms of returning to work – writing my statement about the crash and reading through it took me three hours with Janet’s help whereas before the crash I could have completed the task much quicker and by myself.

“Since the crash I am much more emotional and sensitive to things. The most difficult part of a brain injury is accepting the changes to your personality; the emotion, the frustration and accepting that things you once found so natural, so easy, suddenly being much more challenging.

“It has been a real challenge to accept what happened that day and the daily frustrations of dealing with the changes within myself but with access to the right support; from physiotherapy to my speech and language therapy, recovery can be possible.”

The driver involved in Peter’s crash was charged with careless driving and appeared at Reading Magistrates’ Court on May 16 where it was heard that she was driving a hire vehicle that she had picked up 15 minutes earlier.

She pleaded guilty and was give four points on her driving licence and fined £255.

Expert Opinion

“Through our work we have seen numerous instances when people’s lives have been completely turned upside down as a result of a traumatic brain injury, whether it is survivors themselves, family members or friends.

“Peter’s ordeal has been borne out of driver inattention and was a completely avoidable crash which has left him with serious injuries needing many months of intensive treatment and rehabilitative therapy.

“It can be an incredibly difficult period of anyone’s life, but we also know how access to the right rehabilitation and support can help survivors get the best from life.

“We are a proud supporter of the work of Headway and warmly welcome the focus of this year’s Action for Brain Injury Week. It is a vital reminder of how so many survivors – like Peter - are able to overcome incredible obstacles to regain much-needed independence.” Claire Howard - Solicitor