'Peter survived, but our lives are changed forever'

IN THE chaos of the Christmas shops and New Year sales, we have all done it - turned around to speak to the person we are shopping with only to find they're not there. Usually it just means back-tracking a few paces or even calling them on the mobile.

But for Eunice Bell, losing her husband Peter during Durham's Christmas shopping festival was a much more serious matter. "Total panic set in," she admits. "I was absolutely beside myself."

Four years ago Peter suffered a severe brain haemorrhage. After surgery to remove an aneurism, he spent ten months in hospital. He was forced to give up work, his car and life as he and his family knew it. He is not the man he was.

"When he goes into a shop and sees something, it's as if he goes into another world. And he gets lost a lot, which is why I was panic-stricken this time," recalls Eunice.

Peter, a busy father and grandfather with a job as a representative for a medical equipment company, was in a hotel in Northern Ireland in August 2002 when it became clear the headaches and sleepiness he had been suffering from were something much more serious.

Ironically, Eunice was a senior nurse for neuro rehabilitation at Hunters Moor hospital in Newcastle.

"He phoned me from the hotel and I knew he was having a cerebral bleed. He said he felt very sick, was in excruciating pain, he was sweating, he couldn't stand up and was on the verge of passing out," she recalls.

As Peter was taken to hospital, Eunice flew to Belfast. She knew the prospects weren't good.

"As used as I was to people with brain injury, when it's your own husband lying there it's awful. He was swollen from the top of his head to half way down his chest. We weren't given any guarantees for two weeks and every day we were thankful.

"In the beginning all you want is for them to live. You cling on to the fact that they're still alive. Then you think 'please let them walk', then 'please let them speak'. Then you get to the stage where you realise this is it, they're not going any further."

Peter was transferred to Newcastle General Hospital and would then have been sent home to Durham but Eunice fought to get him into Prudhoe hospital, a specialist centre which focuses on the behavioural recovery of patients with brain injury. In another irony, Peter had been a regular visitor to the hospital through his work.

"I had visited there so I knew how good they were, but anyone without my experience of services in the region wouldn't have known that," says Eunice.

She is now retired but, as she says, it's not the retirement she had looked forward to for herself and Peter. "He has an atrocious memory that's getting worse. All day I have to keep reminding him what day it is, where he's been or where we're going. He has no sense of time, so we can't plan. He goes to the gym but has to go by taxi because he can't get the bus routes sorted out in his mind. When he goes to day care, they pick him up and bring him back.

"He mixes events up when he's telling you things, then will argue when you say it's not right. With some things, you can let it go, but when it's a serious matter you worry in case he's telling other people the same things.

"His tolerance levels are much lower too. He has lost some self-confidence. He doesn't sleep through the night so gets very fatigued during the day. He has put on a lot of weight and now has type two diabetes."

While no one was to blame for Peter's so-called acquired brain injury, the effects on his loved ones' lives are no less devastating. But Eunice worries for families with no experience of brain injuries. Even she has felt compelled to draw on the help of social worker Des O'Meara, who is now working with North-East law firm Blackett Hart & Pratt to support patients and their families through the difficult post-injury times.

"For example, we claimed for disability living allowance, which I've helped many others do before. I didn't think we were awarded enough so we appealed and with Des's help went to tribunal and were awarded much more," says Eunice.

"With every other round of professional people Peter has to see, I have to go too to answer the questions - he can't do it on his own. To have an advocate like Des who can help you through it is fantastic. He is very knowledgeable and has masses of experience in this area. I don't contact him that often but I know he's there to talk to or to come out and see us."

Eunice adds: "People who find themselves in this situation out of the blue need help. At the moment you have to push for everything and you can't always do that on your own.

"There are all sorts of forms to fill in. There are boxes to tick for physical, mental and learning disabilities but cognitive disability is never mentioned. If you're physically disabled it's obvious, but people with cognitive problems are just ignored."

The specialist needs of people who have suffered catastrophic brain injuries are being addressed by an innovative new service being launched in the North-East

Brain injuries are the biggest killer and destroyer of young lives worldwide and can be the result of a car crash, a criminal assault, an incident fuelled by alcohol or a medical condition. People aged 15-29, especially young men, and the over-65s are most at risk.

Those who survive a severe injury may need care for the rest of their lives. A so-called 'mild' brain injury often does not have obvious physical symptoms hence its name the "hidden disability", but the cognitive damage can still be overwhelming. Life-saving medical care is usually followed by months of rehabilitation involving as many as 40 health and social professionals, from physiotherapists to GPs, day care staff to benefits advisors and lawyers.

In cases where a third party is to blame for the injury, a patient may be entitled to substantial compensation but will often struggle to cope with pursuing legal action while still in recovery. It can also be a time of confusion and distress for close family members.

North-East regional law firm Blackett Hart & Pratt, has launched a new initiative to support its brain injured clients' social as well as legal rights. The firm has teamed up with experienced social worker and former head of the Northumberland Head Injury Service, Des O'Meara, to support patients and their families through the difficult time.

Personal injury lawyer and Partner in BHP, Paul Saxon, explains: "Brain injured people and their relatives need a great deal of expert support. Even people with mild injuries can be left with severe short term memory loss, problems with anger management, inappropriate sexual behaviour and fatigue. These difficulties can lead to marital and family breakdown, decreased employment potential and social isolation.

"The most difficult time for the patient can be returning home after hospital and before any legal settlement has been reached when they and their families have to deal with a number of different professionals."

Mr O'Meara, who is an executive member of the UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum, will liaise between solicitors, health professionals, social workers and the patient and their family as their legal case progresses. "My role is to help guide them through the maze and seek extra support where it's needed," he says. "Until it happens to them people don't realise how devastating the effects of a brain injury can be. It's utterly catastrophic."

Mr Saxon, who has won 3m each for two clients in the last four years as well as a number of smaller value claims, added: "Des's intervention will be at no cost to the patient, it's simply us wanting to plug a gap in the service we offer having seen how confusing a time it can be for clients and their relatives.

Legal settlements for brain injuries can cover a range of needs from funding 24-hour care to paying for a person's home to be adapted to recovering lost earnings.

Patients and their families can access the service by contacting Paul Saxon on 0191-221 0898.