Becky, a 36-year-old mother of three, had a horrific accident in April 2023 that left her in a coma for two months following a life-threatening brain injury.
Becky was crossing the road with her 11-month-old daughter in a pram. She was able to push her baby's pram to safety in the split second before she was mown down by a speeding car.
Despite now facing years of rehabilitation as she recovers from the accident, she told the media that ‘'I would do exactly the same again to save my children'.
Fortunately, Becky’s recovery is progressing. Speaking to ITV News, her husband Dan said that now “she can Facetime the girls, and she has been home for a bit - and is coming home this weekend.”
Becky and Dan are also raising awareness of the serious impact of brain injuries, and fundraising for neurological research. Dan has joined Brain Research UK’s 2024 London Marathon team. Visit his fundraising page here to support and track Dan’s tremendous efforts with his friend Ross – go Dan and Ross!
We are incredibly grateful to both Becky and Dan for raising awareness of the serious impact of brain injuries. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and disability in people aged one to 40 years; there are an estimated 1.3million people in the UK living with the effects of a TBI.
We want to improve the outlook for people like Becky, whose lives have been shattered by brain injury, and we are funding vital research to advance understanding of how to promote repair of the brain. One such project is led by Dr Virginia Newcombe, an expert in neurocritical care in Cambridge. She and her team are working to better understand the differences between injuries that are overtly similar, with a focus on injury to the blood vessels and changes to the way that the blood clots. This will guide the development of effective treatments. Find out more about her research here.
