Tyrone brain injury survivors put on informative art exhibition

While our society continues to strive to become a kinder and more empathetic space, there are still some injuries, disabilities and conditions that are overlooked and misunderstood.

Headway is a group that supports local people whose lives have been impacted by brain injury. Many of those who receive support from Headway believe that the wider world still has a lot to learn about brain injuries.

And it it is for this reason that Omagh’s Headway support group, in an attempt to teach and enlighten the public, are putting together an informative art exhibition in Omagh library from May 15.

The exhibition will be open to the public from May 15 to 21, during what is known as Action for Brain Injury (ABI) Week.

This year, throughout ABI week 2023, attention is being placed on powerful and shocking statistic; every 90 seconds, someone in the UK is admitted to hospital with a brain injury.

Speaking with Sam Duncan, the man who leads the Headway group in Omagh, he explained that the ways people can suffer a brain injury are varied, many, and not all that uncommon.

Strokes, falls, road traffic collisions, assaults, brain tumours, meningitis… these are just a few examples of brain injury causes,” said Sam.

“It only takes a few seconds for a life to be completely knocked off course.”

Brain injuries, as member of Omagh’s Headway group would attest to, can have devastating, life-long effects on those who suffer them, as well as their loved ones.

One group member talked about a brain injury being like an earthquake that sends waves and ripples that rock the lives of those around the survivor.

“Regular support, provision of regular activities, guidance and help to survivors and their families, is something Headway does in Omagh and other towns around NI,” said Sam.

“All the adults who attend the group in Omagh have different disabilities – some seen, some hidden – as a result of their individual acquired brain injury (ABI).

Whether you are somebody who has suffered a brain injury, are the loved one of a survivor, or simply see the merit in learning more about this common but little understood phenomenon, visit Omagh Library on Monday, May 15.