Brain Injury Awareness Week 2022

Congratulations Savannah

In celebration of Brain Injury Awareness Week, we would like to recognise the recent achievements of NIISQ participant Savannah!

This year the theme of #BIAW was ‘Life is bigger than a brain injury’, and that couldn’t be more true for this 25 year old who was one of our first NIISQ participants after sustaining a brain injury in July 2016.

“The first thing they said was that I would be in hospital for 12 months or more, and that drove me to push for the outcome to get out,” Savannah said. She was later discharged from hospital after approximately 5 months of focusing on her rehabilitation as an in-patient.

“Everyone takes criticism differently. I was able to turn it around and took it as a push.”

Continuing with this same attitude and drive, Savannah enrolled in a TAFE course to study nursing and successfully graduated with her Diploma of Nursing after 18 months of balancing full-time study with her job and other commitments. She was also awarded with The Margaret Blackwell Award due to her determination and dedication to succeed, even when faced with adversity. Savannah recently commenced her graduate position at Greenslopes Hospital and is looking forward to learning in her role and focusing on her career.

“The reason I wanted to go for nursing was because of what I went through. I wanted to give back what I received when I was recovering.”

We asked Savannah if she had any advice for someone who found themselves faced with the uncertainty of a brain injury and what it meant for them. Savannah replied, “Accept the position you’re in and look at the bigger picture. I think I’ve learnt not to compare myself to who I use to be.”

“Someone once asked me if I’d ever change whether I got a brain injury or not. No, I wouldn’t change it. I’ve grown a lot. I’ve learnt a lot. I got a second chance at life. I got to create the person I wanted to be.”

Thanks to Savannah for sharing her story. Her life is most certainly bigger than a brain injury.

#LifeIsBigger