I watched ‘Hammond meets Moss’ programme on television last night.  Richard Hammond (of Top Gear fame) met the motor racing driver Stirling Moss to talk about the brain injuries they both sustained in motor car accidents. 

It was a very interesting programme and a good insight into brain injury from a very personal perspective.  So many programmes, books and lectures deal with the anatomy or mechanics of brain injury but not individual people’s experiences of their own brain injury. 

Both Stirling Moss and Richard Hammond suffered severe brain injuries (Stirling Moss was in a coma for over a month) and have made very good recoveries on face value but talked of the subtle difficulties they experience and how they have developed ways of coping.  Their difficulties included problems with concentration, for example Stirling Moss appeared able to talk coherently and in depth for long periods but had lost the exceptional level of concentration he had before his accident which enabled him to be one of the best racing drivers in the world.  Difficulties with concentration are one of the subtle problems many of our clients experience after brain injuries.  It is a subtle difficulty which could be easy to miss by lawyers who are not brain injury specialists. 

At Irwin Mitchell we have the knowledge and experience to ensure the subtle difficulties arising from brain injury are fully considered in personal injury cases and not overlooked. 

Radio 4 are currently doing a season of programmes about the brain.  There are some very interesting interviews and blogs, which can be accessed on the Radio 4 website (www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio4/2011/11/radio_4s_brain_season.html).  For me, a particularly interesting interview is with Professor Colin Blakemore, neuroscientist.  Professor Blakemore talks about the early development of the human brain, which scientists are still learning about.  The stages and times of brain development are particularly important for some of our brain injured clients who sustained injury in their childhood because as they grow their brain will still be developing.  This means that, whilst they may have finished growing physically, there may still be a ‘window of opportunity’ for treatment whilst their brain is still maturing.

An understanding of these developments at the forefront of science is important for solicitors specialising in brain injury.  Irwin Mitchell Solicitors are national leaders in representing individuals who have suffered brain injuries.  Irwin Mitchell specialist solicitors are recognised throughout the UK for championing the legal rights of brain injured clients

This month I attended a brain injury conference organised by St Andrews Healthcare, a charity focused on brain injury and mental health.  It was a very interesting day and I met lots of specialist brain injury clinicians, therapists and professionals from across the country. 

It was a great opportunity to meet these people and understand more about their specialisms and gain a better insight into their day-to-day work with brain injured people.  They were all interested in learning more about Irwin Mitchell too.  Most of the people I spoke to had come across Irwin Mitchell before, generally because we represented one of their patients or clients, but wanted to know more about our specialist work and our unique approach to rehabilitation.  A number of people also asked how they could refer their patients or clients to us so that we could assist them with a personal injury claim.  It was fantastic to know that these brain injury specialists rated our legal expertise so highly that they wanted us to help their patients too.

Last week I read an interesting article in the paper regarding road safety and recent government figures on the number of accidents and deaths.

The good news is that the number of deaths arising from road accidents has fallen by 16% since 2009 and is now at the lowest level since records began n 1926, but the figure is still very concerning: 1,857 people died in road accidents last year.

One area where the situation has worsened is cyclists’ deaths.  As more and more people are cycling to work for health and environmental reasons it is worrying that they might not be safe doing so.

Taking precautions, such as wearing high visibility clothing, is of course sensible but council investments into designated cycle lanes is crucial.

Cyclists are particularly vulnerable to head injuries. At Irwin Mitchell we represent many cyclists who have suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of a road traffic accident, in addition to large number of pedestrians and also those in vehicles at the time of accidents.  We have experts who specialise in cyclist and motorbike claims, in addition to specialists in a wide range of other areas.

At Irwin Mitchell we do lots of charity work and work with voluntary organisations, universities, colleges and more outside our day-to-day work representing seriously injured clients – it makes us very busy but it’s great fun and very rewarding!

One recent ‘extra-curricular’ activity for me was a Mock Trial which I organised with two of my colleagues from our Birmingham office for The College of Law in Birmingham.  The aim was to show students how interesting and rewarding it can be to represent people who have sustained head injuries and serious orthopaedic injuries in accidents. 

The Mock Trial was a great success.  We gave students an insight into the complexity of our work and the commitment involved in bringing all of our cases to successful conclusions for our clients.  The students gave us really good feedback which was fantastic.

Our work at Irwin Mitchell involves dealing with complex medical issues arising from brain injuries and it is great to see that medical and scientific progress is being made in this area of medicine.

For example, the University of Birmingham (where I studied) is opening a unique new facility, the Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Robotics Centre (CN-CR).  The aim of the CN-CR is to bring together the University’s world-class research and state-of-the-art equipment to gather information about brain structure and function with a view to improving rehabilitation.

It seems that this is very much in the early stages and the possibility of brain injured patients regaining full independence with the assistance of intelligent robotic devices may well be some years off but it’s fantastic to read about developments dedicated to improving the quality of life of people who have suffered brain injuries.

Happy New Year to everyone.

The Christmas period drink-driving campaigns are now over but the ‘don’t drink and drive’ message is still crucial.  In 2009, 11,990 reported casualties occurred as a result of a drunk driver.  Of course this was over the whole year, not just around Christmas and New Year.  Perhaps complacency creeps in later in the year.

I’ve recently seen a study carried out by the AA / Populus which found that the most common excuses for drink driving heard were:

• "It's only down the road" – 60%
• "I've had food, so that will have soaked the alcohol up" – 56%
• "It's been a while since the last drink" – 45%
• "There won't be any traffic around" – 28%
• "I won't get caught" – 27%

These are worrying findings which show a complacency, lack of knowledge and disregard for safety amongst some drivers.  In cases where we work for clients who have had a brain injury in a road traffic collision we come across a considerable number of drivers who were under the influence of alcohol when an accident occurred.  Simply saying no to a drink when you will be driving is an easy way of looking after your own safety and the safety of everyone else on the roads.

A lot of my work involves accidents at work which cause brain injury, sometimes because of lack of head protection, sometimes from falls from height, and from heavy things falling onto workers.

Where there has been an accident at work I will often refer to the Health and Safety Executive website. It’s a really useful website for anyone interested in health and safety issues and there is also some light relief on there in the short articles titled of ‘Myth of the Month’.

The aim of this section is to dispel the scare stories about health and safety and reinforce the central aim of health and safety: to use common sense to protect people and prevent death or serious injury. So the myth of the month for July was dispelling the rumour that the Health and Safety Executive had banned candy floss which gave me a chuckle on Monday morning!

Recently I visited the BIRT brain injury rehabilitation centre in West Heath (Birmingham) to deliver the first edition of a newsletter produced by two service users and myself. The newsletter was a great project for the service users and enabled them to write their own articles about their hobbies and interests. It was also fantastic for me because I met two really nice people, learnt about their lives before they moved into West Heath House, their day to day lives now, and had the opportunity to see first hand how the amazing work BIRT does benefits people who have sustained brain trauma. For example, one of the pieces in our newsletter was a recipe for a dish Graham enjoyed cooking in his rehabilitation cooking session. Recalling all the ingredients and stages of the recipe was a development of the skills he is learning in the variety of rehabilitation sessions he has at West Heath House.

The first edition of our newsletter also has an article in it about Jenny’s favourite places to visit in Turkey. Jenny has enjoyed many holidays abroad and was happy to share her favourite destinations with me. Part of her rehabilitation at West Heath House will address memory and concentration problems so it was great that she could build on these skills when we were talking.

The newsletter also includes a few photographs of the lovely West Heath House garden and courtyard Graham has worked on. Taking those photos was my accomplishment for the newsletter!

Last night I watched ‘My New Brain’, a Cutting Edge programme on Channel 4.  It focused on Simon, a young man who had suffered a catastrophic brain injury while at Newcastle University on a night out.  The programme followed his time in hospital (where he was in a coma for 5 weeks), then in a transitional brain injury rehabilitation residential centre and then moving to a supported living flat.

It was interesting seeing his time in the rehab centre because it was similar to the rehab centre I have visited in Birmingham and I recognised some of the sessions, for example, rehabilitation cooking sessions and orientation sessions.

The most interesting (and lump in my throat!) part was seeing Simon with his younger brothers and mum. It was clear that his personality had changed significantly as a result of the brain injury, which in turn had a massive effect on his relationship with his family. Changes in personality, to varying degrees, are a very common effect of brain damage.  But Simon’s family were so supportive and brave in dealing with this.

There was poignant footage of Simon’s younger brother helping him to get changed for bed and brush his teeth (it really was a case of back to square one) and then in contrast Simon told us how he had punched his brother one day simply because he couldn’t manage his own anger and frustration.

In summary, the programme was a moving insight into life after brain injury and, for me, a look into what many of my clients and their families have to learn and live with since their accidents.  I’d definitely recommend watching it.