Errol

When he was a child, Errol sustained a brain injury. Here he talks to us about his experiences and how Headway East London has helped him to rebuild his life.

What was the cause of your brain injury? What problems do you experience because of it?

A car hit me while I was walking on the street when I was 10 years old. I went sky high and came down on my right side. Then I had to be taken to hospital to be operated on. I spent three years in Whittington Hospital. You can imagine a ten-year-old. I must have been in a deep sleep. When I woke up, I wasn’t sure of where I was. Nurses and doctors were very helpful, but things were different at the time.  

When I came out of hospital, I went to a school in Hackney for young people with disabilities. I met other young people with disabilities. I liked going to school. Once we went to see the prime minister, it was James Callaghan. I have been to number 10!

The accident has changed the way I think, the way I talk to people, the way I do things I have never done before.

Sometimes I ask myself: what happened to me? Why I am here? What place is this?

Headway groups and branches all over the UK help people to rebuild their lives after brain injury. How and when did you first get involved in Headway East London? What difference has it made in your life?

I have been coming to Headway East London since 1999. I was referred by a member of my family.

Headway is helping me a lot. I come every Tuesday and Thursday. I like going to the Submit to Love art studio to draw. Art means a lot to me. It’s fun. It’s good to be focused on what you are doing and what you are saying to the people around you. I also do music therapy and I sing with our music therapist Oli.

I like meeting people; I have met quite a lot of people in the time I have been here.

Every 90 seconds, someone is admitted to hospital with an Acquired Brain Injury. What is one thing you would like people to understand about brain injury?

Being like this means a lot to me and I want to bring it out to people who don’t know what it means to be stuck in time. Living like this is like being stuck in time.

Errol was on the cover of Headway News Summer 2023

People should learn more about the stories of people living with brain injury.

What is one thing you would like people to do to support people with brain injury?

For me, asking people to learn more about brain injury is the most important thing. There are some important people out there who don’t know a thing about it. People need to know that brain injury is a part of life.