Christina has been a Headway Thames Valley client for the last 19 years, after suffering a brain injury in 1987.
Christina looks back on the last 30 years with ‘A New Me’ in mind, as part of our campaign for Action for Brain Injury Week.
“I was manageress of a travel agency in London and I had a brain tumour. I was at work and just fell on the floor. Then I had to go to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and they put a metal plate in my skull. After hospital I had to stay with my mum and she looked after me.
“I used to live in a high rise building in Bracknell, now I live in a little bungalow.
“I wasn’t able to work after my brain injury and that was upsetting but if I was at work I wouldn’t be here (at Headway TV), meeting you lot.
“I can’t cook anymore, I can’t concentrate – it’s just awful. I always repeat myself and my boyfriend gets frustrated with me. And I get frustrated. But he understands and we make up.
“My boyfriend retired early to look after me and my mum had to look after me too.
“I can’t concentrate anymore but I’m doing a lot better. I’m more mobile now; I can walk a lot more. Headway Thames Valley has helped a lot. I like coming here because I meet my friends and sing in the choir. I enjoy the cognitive exercises.
“I know I won’t ever go back to work but at least I’ve been to a lot of nice places; I’ve been to Jamaica, Barbados and lots of other happy places.”