Adventure after acquired brain injury

An acquired brain injury has changed many things for Steve, but it has not taken away his thirst for adventure.

Despite suffering a brutal attack in Thailand, which left him with left-side paralysis, a brain injury and an inability to speak, Steve has always been keen to get back to the adrenaline-fuelled hobbies that he used to enjoy.

His determination to live life to the full is matched by his hand-picked support team from Realise South West, who, over the years, have supported Steve to move into his own flat, go on holiday with family and find new ways of communicating his interests and ambitions in life.

Top of Steve’s wishlist was to surf again – a particular challenge given that a lot of adaptive surfing still involves lying and balancing on a surfboard, something which Steve would not be able to manage due to his left-side weakness. However, his support team would not be beaten, and kept up their research until they discovered the opportunity for Steve to use a seated surfboard, supported by adaptive surfing charity, The Wave Project.

Working together, Steve’s Realise support team worked with charity to make sure all of the logistics were in place to make surfing a possibility for him. This included ensuring the availability of a wetsuit with zipped arms and legs to make it easier for Steve’s team to get him in and out of it.

When the day came for Steve to take to the waves, his mum, Alison, was there to watch:

“As I watched my son on a surfboard in the sea at Croyde Bay, the events of 10 years ago this Christmas couldn’t have been farther away.

“My son, who so nearly lost his life on the other side of the world in 2014, was living his best life, thanks to one man’s ambitious dream and two amazing teams of people.

“The sheer joy on his face brought tears to many of us.

“From my heart I say a massive ‘THANK YOU’ to Steve’s Realise care team for sharing the dreams our family have for Steve and for bringing them to life.”