Brain injury dad is now aiding others to recover
A FATHER who took almost a decade to recover from a devastating brain injury is now helping other patients to rehabilitate.
Billy Steele, 52, spent almost three years in hospital – including three months in a coma – after he was knocked down by a car in Glasgow in 2009.
After lengthy NHS treatment he was home but said he struggled to fit into normal life again.
“When you have a brain injury you are no longer the person you were before. You are, in a sense, carrying an invisible wound,” Mr Steele said.
“People suffer from severe memory loss and many individuals’ personalities change. You might be physically ready to leave the hospital, but for many the mental struggles they will face trying to rebuild a life and live with a head injury are colossal.”
The death of his partner Lee with cancer hampered Mr Steele’s recovery but he praised his two sons as his “beacons of hope”.
Struggling with confidence and socialising, Mr Steele finally discovered Quarriers Renfrewshire Head Injury Service which offers support to people recovering from serious injury.
After a series of sessions, Mr Steele now acts as an intermediary when Quarriers specialists first meet someone with a brain injury.
The 52-year-old helps to translate the way a person is feeling, identifying the appropriate type of care for them.
He said: “I know how scared people who suffer from a head injury can be for what’s to come and how to cope.”
Helen Stewart, project manager at Quarriers Renfrewshire Head Injury Service, added: “Billy is an inspiration and a lesson in resilience.
“His life as he knew it was turned completely upside down in the space of a moment and he lost his entire identity. But he has turned it all around and is now a leading light for others, providing hope and joy to those who need it most.”