Introduction To The Brain Injury Survivor Network ..

I had a simple accident which resulted in a severe brain injury fifteen years ago since 2010. In December 1995, while surfing at Peregian Beach in Queensland, Australia, I fell off a boogie-board in metre of water and hit my head on the sand. I ended up in the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane where I was in a coma for four weeks. It took six months in hospital before I was able to walk, talk and function in a reasonably normal manner. I am now the ‘The Recycled/Restored Man ...... in a new Season of Life’.

In my new Season of Life since my accident, I am here to build people up ...... to inspire people ..... to work with them and what they have already and not what they have lost. I do this primarily via the Internet to over a thousand people around the world. Some group identities have many Cyberspace members as well. A number of years ago I began the Brain Injury Survivor Network.

I now see great value in people:

* No matter who they are
* What skin colour they are
* What race they are
* What they have done or not done

This is because I have and live out a Christian Spirituality (versus Christian Religion). The focus of this Spirituality is on Community vs. Corporation. It is a focus on people vs. seeing it as conformity to set framework of a religious corporation with rational beliefs and set rituals.

I think of my fellow brain injury survivor friends as part of my extended brain injury survivor family ..... whether I have met them or not.

In our Western Culture, it is highly individualized, being very competitive and corporate. We generally do not give value for people who cannot achieve. When you have brain injury, you certainly cannot achieve. It can become very isolating and can lead to a lot of disconnection from other people. I discuss this topic more fully in the section ‘Personal Stories Of Brain Injured People’ where I met Takalah Tan in Singapore.

With the development of the Worldwide Web, we can easily be in contact with other survivors. The purpose of this Blog Site ….. the ‘BRAIN INJURY SURVIVOR NETWORK’ is about HOPE and RESTORATION.

Hope: that by following the fundamentals of the Sustainable Life, you will again be a valued member of the community again. Such a life has the ability to be continually and maintained everyday. From my personal belief and experience there three important components in recovering from a brain injury and maintaining an ongoing life. These are: Structure, Social Network and Spirituality.

The focus is: ' ..... Beyond Being a Brain Injury Survivor into Being a Brain Injury Thriver ....'

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Join this network now at this e-mail address: aitkken@gmail.com.

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