The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Courageous mum aims to inspire after battling back from brain injury
Kelly to tell her story as a guest speaker at head injury information event
An Angus mum has opened her heart on her brave battle back from brain injury in a bid to inspire the recovery of others.
Kelly Christie was involved in a devastating car crash in 2006 which left her with a fractured skull and damage to her frontal lobe.
She suffered seizures and was told by medics she’d never make new memories, but despite the doubts and more than five years of recovery she went on to build an award-winning beauty business which took her all the way to London Fashion Week.
Kelly, from Montrose, has now taken on an additional role as a mental health support worker and aims to help others through her comeback story.
The 39-year-old said: “After my accident I spent years being told ‘You’ll never do this and you can’t do that’ and that affected my recovery more than anything else as it made me feel trapped and pointless but nothing is.
“Whether a person is recovering from emotional or physical injuries, they just need positivity and support to feel free and thrive and now that I am in a good place I want to make sure no one else ever feels the struggles I did.”
Kelly is to tell her story as a guest speaker at the Digby Brown 2020 Head Injury Information Day on Wednesday.
She will also speak about the part played in her recovery by her daughter, Megan, who was just five at the time of the crash, and acted like a carer which proved difficult for Kelly to deal with.
“I struggled to give Megan cuddles and get back into the mum role – it felt similar to post-natal depression as we had to make a new bond because the bond we had before the crash was gone.
“Megan is now 20 and we have an amazing relationship now, but I would not be here if it wasn’t for the support from her and my friends and family.
After her recovery, Kelly set up her Jewels Not Tools salon, a highlight being the work with Mick Jagger’s daughter, Georgia May, at London Fashion Week.
But after volunteering with Samaritans last year Kelly felt she had more to offer and has now changed her salon to part-time only so she can also work as a mental health peer support worker with Hillcrest Futures.
She added: “I still love working in the beauty industry but volunteering opened my eyes to something bigger and as I’m equally passionate about helping people it made sense to take on the additional role of mental health peer support.”
The head injury information event will be an online event this year due to the pandemic restrictions. For details visit hiid.org.uk/events
Now that I am in a good place I want to make sure no one else ever feels the struggles I did. KELLY CHRISTIE