New children's brain injury support service in the North East

21/05/2010

John Davis, partner in our Newcastle office, is helping three North East mothers to set up a new advice and support service for families of young people with brain injuries.

The 24-hour helpline, called Brainbox, will provide counselling, advocacy and mentoring.

Alice Stewart, Michelle Cowen and Sharon Gray all met at Newcastle General Hospital after their children suffered brain injuries in accidents.

The mothers identified a lack of support in the North East for parents of children with acquired brain injury and so decided to set up their own charity.

The three will give up their own time to staff the helpline and will be assisted by Julie Cordon, a brain injury professional.

John Davis of Irwin Mitchell is the chair of Brainbox and represented one of the mothers, Michelle Cowen, in a successful compensation claim after her daughter Ashleigh was left brain damaged when she was hit by a BT van.

Commenting on the creation of the Brainbox service, Mr Davis said: “For a long time there has been an enormous gap in the support services available for parents of brain injured children, not only in the North East, but across the country. The strength of Brainbox is that it is being led by parents who have themselves learned the hard way how to cope with the sometimes devastating effects of a brain injury to a child. The aim of Brainbox is to pass on to other parents the practical experience that they have gained”

To find out more about the Brainbox service email brainbox.2009@yahoo.com

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