David Maguire

David Maguire sustained brain injury in 2005 and was told he might not walk again. He not only walked again but ran a marathon a day across Canada. 'A Run to Remember' ! He did this for brain injury. In 2007 he approached brain trust for support. David was inspired by the Terry Fox Run.

'after brain injury there are a lot of failures and self doubt ... The belief that I couldn't do it helped me to do it...I'm glad to be a Canadian and can complain about it... I had brain surgery...some places I'd be left to die...others I'd have years of debt...this is phenomenal"

David was the final speaker at the Pacific Coast Brain Injury Conference 2012.

'my brain developed a bleed and I had seizures breaking up my apartment...it was thought I had been robbed and my love Mandy and best friend were arrested...because Mandy and I weren't married my parents I hadn't seen since 15 were called about the decision to open my skull and treat the bleed'

'Mandy didn't know what hospital I was in'"

"I went to Twassassen to live with my parents who were nearing retirement... It was a defining moment in my life...I had to take a bus for an hour and a half to get anywhere .., I began to run"

'thinking about what I could do and what I couldn't ... I thought prisoners come out of jail in better shape from working out ...I began running but I'd get lost and I'd forget to stop'

'I began running with a running group and I liked that because people would tell me David stop running...I eventually got a gps'

'when you have a brain injury everything is about me.. My hat is off to my wife and you who are here..when I could get out of myself for a bit I could see how difficult I was for others'

When they closed the brain injury resources I looked on google to see what was available for brain injury people and found out all that was available was downtown east side, homelessness and chronic care facilities.

I became political

That's how the run came about because I thought about all the people who didn't have anything. I was married...by comparison I was high functioning "

'there is legal discrimination against brain injured people... one of last of known disabilities ... doesn't occur if you are blind or deaf'

'people with brain injury end up in jails ...because of legal discrimination"

"so many brain injuries can be prevented by wearing a helmut"

"put on a helmet"

"the run started out of anger and frustration because no one listened... The run changed me..,pushed me to limits...made me realize awesomeness human potential ..I wanted to raise awareness"

"I asked politicians to ask how many people in their office had a stroke, a concussion, a car accident, or head injury so they would have a sense of just how many of us there are , how many people may have the experiences I am having'

'I really appreciate humor today ..,
'the advantage of short term memory loss is that I can laugh again at every episode of family guy'

'my biggest problem is memory so I have post it notes to remind me to read my post it notes'

'I have a lot of perception systems full on all the time because my filter isn't working well...I can be hearing everything, smelling everything, seeing everything at once"

'my concern today is finding employment"

"but before my injury I don't think I had purpose ...today I have purpose

"I am a different person than I was before and I think too much of brain injury assessment is about how much of your old self returns without looking enough at the new person you can become'

'looking forward to having kids but figure that will present challenges with memory - mommy, daddy said I could'

Pacific Coast Brain Injury Conference 2012

The Pacific Coast Brain Injury Conference Feb 15-17, 2012, www.brainstreams.ca/conference, opened last night at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre.  It's the first time I've attended this conference and the first night's speaker, Val Lougheed,  made the whole conference worth it.  Patti Flaherty  and Geoff Sing Chairs of the Pacific Coast Brain Injury Conference and Society are to be complimented on all their work on behalf of brain injury survivors but especially for the organization this insightful conference. It's theme is "Real People with Real Lives: It Takes a Village.  Val Lougheed, herself is a social worker and president of the Northern Lights organization, involved in rehabilitation and care.  She suffered a brain injury as a result of a near fatal car crash.  Today she tells her personal story with modesty and incredible humor coupling the very human message with a wealth of data regarding the advances in treatment in all the dimensions of the car of trauma patients. Hearing her story was so uplifting as her story mirrors so many of the patients I see who face her struggles. The conference is itself a celebration of the very fact that professions are listening and the tremendous scientific advances in this field are being brought forward despite lingering beaurocratic obstacles from jurassic days.
The conference addresses Concussions in Sports, Neuroplasticity, MRI and Recovery, Brain Injury Associations, Head Injury and Addiction (Dr. Gabor Mate)  and swell as Navigating through the Complexities of Life and Brain Injury.
Poster presentations were especially interesting as they spanned the realm of neurological advances, military medicine findings, brain infections, self help groups, and  meditation and community gardening projects.
The conference is well attended.  Looking about at the range of skills and backgrounds represented it was obvious that a whole 'village' of care was required to help each individual survivor. Medicine, Psychiatry, Neurology, Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation medicine, Rehavilitation services, Kinesiology. Chiropractors, Social Workers,  Lawyers, Nurses, Pastoral Care Workers, and the list goes on.  This conference goes along way to addressing the need for "village' work even beyond the socalled' team approach.