Andrew's story

hi my name is Andrew Jenkins in January I was a finalist in series two of the traitors since the traitors my life has been crazy but that wasn't the first time my life has be totally or completely Rewritten on August 28th 1999 I was involved in a very serious road traffic accident I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone but I want to be part of this amazing Headway campaign to show people out there who had a brain injury or a head injury that you can do great things I was born in a traditional Welsh family mother and father be married nearly 60 years I got three brothers two older brothers one younger brother um the test start St of my house growing up the competitiveness was off the chart uh we were all born pretty much with the rugby ball in our hands so from the age of five I played rugby and my dream like many people in Wales I suppose is to put on the red jersey and run out on the National Stadium and play represent my country um so growing up

had a great upbringing loving family mother and father really hardworking parents yeah so they're really you know really good great role models a lot of love in my family but uh the problem with my family growing up is we just didn't show any feelings or emotions um even to this day I've never seen my family you know show any emotion towards each other say they love each other hug each other so I was in a I was growing up thinking I'm a real strong man and you can't show any feelings and emotions if it did it made you weak and then on the 20th of August 1999 I was involved in a Ser very serious road traffic accident where my dream of playing rug for Wales was taken from me and my life was Rewritten I was I went to a wedding

there was five Us in the car so I've been to the wedding all day uh somebody else to work with then driving home from the wedding I hit the I hit a curb my driver's Wheels hit a curb and I flipped the car to the side so I was thrown out of the driver's window the side window of the car the door window I can't remember if the window smashed when I hit the floor or whether I had the window open I can't remember I just can't remember much about it to be honest so I slid along the floor there my head hit the floor as soon as my head hit the floor I I Was Made I was unconscious so I was dragging on the floor then for a couple hundred yards and the car was sliding and then when the car finished sliding it sort of Lent on top me it was leaning on top me I've been told by the people in the car so luckily the people in the back of the car were like wedged in I had a BMW 316

my first ever car and they were like wedged in the back of the car so they didn't really move and my partner at the time Katie she was hanging above me she lucky sh had her seat belt on she would have fallen on top of me so you know she was hanging above me calling my name and I didn't I wasn't responding I was trapped half under the car my legs are in the foot well and half out of the car so um you know I psychologically they had a lot worse than what I did to be honest because the things they saw must have been horrendous you know when the emergency service turned up they they were asking the people in the car was he drinking has he been speeding they said

it's too late now anyway he's dead so they said I was dead on the side of the road obviously I didn't die and not a ghost so um it was very touch and go but um then they took me to the Royal gwent in Newport the hospital not far from where the accident happened but there was nothing they could do for me there so I had a police escort at the Morrison in swamp Onie cuz that was where neurology was and plastic surgery and while all this was going on I was my parents having a knock on the door from the policeman to say that I'd been involved in a road traffic accident and it is quite serious and they had and to come straight away my parents at the time were getting ready for bed so they were in their night way my mother was in a petty coat or a nighty my dad was his

pajamas and they said um can we go get changed and they said this is how critical they said no you don't got time to get change you got to come now and if you spoke to my mother now she she she says she records on night every single day since happened 24 years ago she Rel lives that moment every single day where the polican knock through her door so obviously went to Morrison Hospital in Swansea then and they founded um Professor heus Lang that night to come into into workers was to operate on me so the first operation I had was to remove the bone for my brain um and I spent four weeks there on nearly four weeks in a coma in intensive care they fighting for my life in hospital when I was in my coma they said I had severe brain damage they could sell from the Shadows on my scans but they said they can't tell how bad it is or how severe it is until I wake up there's a chance I might never wake up but if I do be prepared I'm not going to recognize

anyone walk Talk use my arms and legs ever again cuz they said they've seen Shadows on my scans so I woke up out of my went to intensive care I remembered who people were but they said I never walk ever again so I said to the doctor I guarantee I'll walk at the hospital and he said and you'll never walk again I said I will I think it's mental health and resilience and self believing in yourself and your heart goes a long long way yes as you can about the physical injury were horrendous and really bad but the the worst thing for me was the psychological and the the mental illness I suffered them for 20 years in silence I suppose because I walked on with a big smile on my face put a masking every day drag myself out of bed every day and so I didn't I refuse counseling I couldn't talk to my family because we don't talk about things like that plus you put through enough stress as it is there was two things that happened in my life I met my partner at the time then Kelly

she'd had a lot of trauma she had trauma in her life but she didn't have that trauma to finer and also I met the man last year Sav my life I tracked him on Google bit spooky but I did track him down on Google and I went to meet him I I told him I was coming I didn't turn up to his office Professor Lang Ling and I walked into his office and he said wow you said you're incredible he said you're a miracle patient he said you should be dead so then meeting them two people thinking yeah I need to start inspiring people and you know use use what happened to me for good there something called post-traumatic growth where you know you have a trauma in life

but you use that use that trauma then to help Inspire thousands of people to do good things I want to show people that you can have a trauma in life you could you know maybe look a different way scar in um you know lose lose your dream and give and lose something in life s struggle your mental health but you can still turn your life around and Achieve great things in life so after walking at the hospital my real challenge then started I suppose with my um mental health Journey um some of the things that affected me is a loss of identity I was a rugby boy from 5 years of age to 21 growing up I was surrounded by rugby people rugby I walk into a club or a pub

big strong rugby boy Andrew the rugby boy and then I lost my identity it was really hard and you know my my three brothers are still playing rugby at the time all very good rugby players my dad rugby so I the only way I really thought of growing up you know to make my dad proud or just get his love and affection I suppose was to play rugby to be best on the rugby pitch to achieve things and when I couldn't do that anymore I thought how could make my dad proud but also one of the other areas I I struggled with massively was my self-worth and my self-esteem my confidence I hated what I saw in the mirror and I used to say some horrible things to myself every single day

because I couldn't get away from my scars every day I look in the mirror do my head go to work I look in the mirror every day and I straight to I see my scars I couldn't accept compliments from anyone if somebody say I did notice some people say I did notice your scars who pointed it out I think I just being polite you just being G you just being nice so I couldn't accept it when everybody ever said anything nice to me you got a nice smile you got nice eyes I'd always follow up the negative I'd always say something negative back i' never just accept the compliment of anyone if you tell yourself something every single often enough you stop believing it so the big thing for me was stop saying horrible things to myself a couple of years back I just stop saying horrible things to myself and also

accepting compliments just if somebody says something be nice to me just don't say anything just say thank you and not follow up the negative so you telling yourself it's a big change you know speaking to yourself in a nice way is really important and if you want to start and recover and help yourself is stop stop saying horrible things to yourself yes so I went for counseling so that was a huge part of my journey and after the first session there was a lots of Tears um yeah it was a very emotional session and um she said I know what's wrong with you I said no what PTSD she goes no you're grieving I said grieving

that's when somebody physically dies and she goes you haven't physically got to die to grieve so I was I was trapped in the grief cycle I suppose for many many years the seven stages of grief I think and I was only in I've only been in acceptance for the last say couple of years since the tractors I feel very very privileged to have a platform I have now to help Inspire thousands of people hopefully millions of people and being part of headways campaign it's very it's amazing to be honest the work the head we do is incredible and this is what I wanted to do this is what I want to use my platform for to help people to show they can lead normal life even if suffering a traumatic experience or a head injury or a brain injury keep believing in yourself using people like Headway but I understand the lots of people out there who've had a brain injury or a head injury something for them a a great step for them might be using the use of their hand again or

being able to eat food on their own again using the knife and fork again or doing a couple of steps or even getting their driving license back everybody's goal is different in life you know don't ever set your goals M very high just use take small steps when you achieve them small steps make sure you celebrate that and give yourself a p in the back you're doing really well in life you're doing well you're moving in the right direction that's all you can say don't beat yourself up you know you you get bad days I get lots of bad days don't let one bad day ruin all the hard work you're doing so far I keep rewriting my life every single day my mission now my journey is to help inspire people and

just change change break the stigma that surrounds mental health and well-being really