Fabien sustained a life-changing head injury when he fell from a height at the age of 16. This April he will run the London Marathon as part of Team #BrainResearch.
“When I was 16 years old, I was training with cadets and fell from a huge height and hit my head, smashing my wrist and causing lots of damage physically through my body.
Whilst my wrist could be plated together, my knee operated and scrapes could heal, it slowly became apparent that I had lost any memory of my life pre-accident. This includes my family, friends, education - and my short-term memory was also like a sieve.”
Fabien’s brain injury was a so-called ‘contrecoup’ injury. These typically occur when a moving head strikes a stationery object; the brain moves within the skull cavity and rebounds, causing damage to the opposite side of the brain.
Recovery was long and slow. He underwent rehabilitation with neurological and educational psychologists to learn how to concentrate again, to learn adaptive skills and ways of coping to overcome his obstacles. He was re-introduced to education, was having regular CT scans to understand the extent of the damage and was on medication for a long time, meaning that he couldn’t fully embrace a ‘normal’ 16 to 20 year-old life.
“I developed my new identity, made new friends who supported me on my journey, passed my college courses and now run a care home which cares 24/7 for elderly residents, many of whom live with neurological conditions.”
“I live a varied and fulfilling life, and have made plenty of amazing new memories in adulthood.”
On 27th April 2025, Fabien will take to the streets of London as part of Team #BrainResearch, helping to raise funds for vital brain research.
"I have chosen to run for Brain Research UK because I know first-hand the huge difference that research can make in understanding of neurological conditions and, in my personal case, recovery."
“I’ve found the team spirit from BRUK really encouraging, have had plenty of support with training, knowledge from other team members, and am proud to train in my branded kit. Bring on race day!”
Good luck Fabien, and thanks for being part of the team!
Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in people aged one to 40 years. We have no therapies capable of lessening the burden of brain injury, and there has been little improvement in outcomes for brain-injured patients over the past two decades. Whilst Fabien is fortunate to have made a good recovery, others are not so lucky and the burden in terms of disability and loss of potential is enormous.
One of the problems in treating brain injury lies in the complexity and diversity of the injuries. The nature of the damage varies greatly between patients who may have overtly similar head injuries. Being able to characterise this damage will guide the development of effective treatments, and this is the aim of research being carried out by Dr Virginia Newcombe at the University of Cambridge.
With Brain Research UK funding, Dr Newcombe and team are drawing on information from a European database containing data on 400 brain-injured patients, as well as recruiting new patients from Neurocritical Care Unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital – to find out more about the changes that take place in the injured brain.
Fabien is one of 300 members of Team #BrainResearch who will take to the streets of London on 27th April, united in their desire to support neurological research.
If you’re inspired by his story, please consider making a donation to support our work, or look for ideas for other ways in which you could get involved in our work.
