He’s just one guy riding his bike across the country to bring attention to a cause that is near and dear to his heart.
But the action taken by that sole 23-year-old cyclist has considerably raised the profile of an epidemic that happens to be the biggest killer and disabler of Canadians.
And as Brad Cownden rolled into Sackville last Tuesday afternoon on the 62nd day of his 7,200-kilometre cross-country journey from Victoria, B.C. to St. John’s, Nfld., he is confident his efforts to gain more funds and greater support for victims of brain injuries have not been in vain.
Nearly everyone Cownden has met on his Canada-wide trek has had connections with someone who has been impacted by the lasting effects of a brain injury.
“It’s something that can happen to anyone at any time,” he said while taking a break at the local Tim Hortons after riding into town in the middle of a rainstorm. “And they all require special care that’s not there.”
Cownden knows first-hand how challenging life can be following an accident, for not only the victim of a brain injury but for the caregivers who dedicate all their time and energy to care for their loved ones.
It was a decade ago when his aunt was involved in a near-fatal car accident which hugely impaired her brain function.
When she was released from the hospital, he said, “she wasn’t able to dress herself, to cook for herself and she would even get lost in her home.”
But because of the lack of follow-up support and long-term rehabilitation facilities for brain injury patients, Cownden’s aunt, who now needed 24-hour care, was instead left to fend for herself.
“I saw the type of care she needed and how little of it she got,” he said, noting that it was his family that stepped in to provide the care she required.
Marita Webb, a Sackville mother whose daughter was injured in a car accident more than five years ago, also knows how important it is to get more resources and greater support for victims and their families.
“It’s typical all over Canada,” Webb said of stories like hers and Cownden’s. “Once they get out of the health care system, families are left on their own with little resources.”
Webb, who is a board member of the Brain Injury Association of New Brunswick, was on-hand to meet with Cownden when he arrived in town last week and invited him to a reception at the BIANB office in Sackville that evening.
Cownden said throughout his journey, he has been trying to educate people about the impacts of a brain injury – “how serious it is, how prevalent it is, and how easy it is to prevent.”
In fact, he noted, 85 per cent of brain injuries are preventable and so education is important.
“Let’s do the little things we need to, like wearing a helmet when we go out biking.”
More information can be found, including how to donate, at brainstormride.org.
August 12 2010 Brad Cownden dipped his front tire in the water of St.John's Harbour to complete his brainStormRIDE trek across Canada. Thank you to everyone that helped suport him in his jurney across Canada. Although the ride is complete there is still much work to do to help those living with aquired brain injury and their caregivers. Dad