Ben Quick

When he was only 16 years old, Ben was hit by a car near his home in Newport, Barnstaple. He was lucky to survive but was left with a brain injury that was to change his life. But Ben refused to accept his life was over and is a fine example of how people with brain injuries can achieve great things.

The severity of the accident meant Ben was in an induced coma for 17 days after the accident to help reduce the swelling in his brain. The impact was so heavy that he had to have reconstructive surgery to his head and face. In total, Ben spent 10 weeks in Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, fighting for his life.

He'd lost the sight in his right eye and his sense of smell, and his short-term memory was severely affected. As he'd damaged his frontal lobe, filtering information was very difficult and he struggled with sensory overload.

Ben was just finishing the first year of his A-Levels at the time and although he didn't know it then, his life would now be an even greater challenge. With the help of the doctors, his family and Headway, Ben started to make good progress. He even went back to college in September to continue his studies.

However, his brain injury took its toll and Ben began to struggle with his chosen courses, which all required his brain to function in a certain way. But rather that give up, he decided to start again - this time with courses to suit what he could do, not what he couldn't. His brain injury means although he now struggles with processing information, his visual skills are intact, so he chose to study art, graphics, media and music.

Two years after his sustaining his brain injury, Ben obtained A-Levels in all but music and is now doing a degree in illustration at Plymouth University.

Ben said: "I'm 23 now and I've got my life back on track but my brain injury will always be with me. I will never regain the sight in my right eye or my sense of smell and I still suffer from short-term memory and concentration issues. It's frustrating but I try to not let it affect me in a negative way.

"Headway has helped me get my life back, and for that I will always be grateful."