Adam Clarke

In April 2023, Adam - a brain injury survivor - completed a life-long dream by running the Brighton Marathon in aid of Headway UK.

Here Adam tells us about his experiences living with brain injury and how it felt to get his running shoes on for a good cause.

Can you tell us a bit about your brain injury?

At the end of 2018, I was involved in a car crash where I suffered a traumatic head injury which resulted in a bleed on the brain. 

Following the crash, I spent four days in hospital - most of which I don't remember. After that, I was off work for six months, but even when I did go back, I couldn't drive or sustain long days. 

How does your brain injury affect your day-to-day life?

Since the brain injury, I’ve found my short-term memory is affected, and I also become fatigued after anything intense such as loud noises and gatherings of people where I have to concentrate on different conversations. I also found word finding difficult, which lowered my confidence around people. These were some of the reasons I was unable to go back to work. It was very apparent I needed to adapt and be patient before attempting to go back to work.

Which Headway group helped you and how?

I was introduced to the Headway group in Norwich. Through this group, I was able to meet with other people who had also suffered brain injuries, and we were able to share experiences and coping mechanisms of how we were getting on with life.

I also attended a course which helped me learn different strategies to exercise my memory and help with the word-finding issues I had.

How does it feel to have run a marathon?

Before the run, I did feel quite nervous. This was my first marathon, and it has always been a life goal to run one, but I had never run that far.

Now I have completed the run, I feel it was an amazing achievement and something I thought I would never be able to do.

Why would you like people to donate to your fundraising appeal?

I would like people to support Headway as they provide that extended care which people would otherwise miss out on. They were always happy to listen and give advice where I needed it. I feel my recovery was helped so much by the work Headway does.

What would you like people to better understand about brain injuries?

I was very fortunate as I have recovered very well, and I know that there are many who find they are adapting to a new way of life.

My hope is that people with head injuries are given time and shown patience, as I feel this can really encourage them and not deter them. 

I would just like to thank all those at Headway who helped me with my recovery and allowed me to be there for my wife and children.

You can find Adam’s fundraising link here. If his story has inspired you to take on a challenge of your own to help raise vital funds for Headway UK, please visit our fundraising page here.