Brian’s journey to happiness after a brain injury

Brain injuries can change lives in an instant. They affect many areas of someone’s life, including their independence. This is what happened to Brian, a person we support at Cleadon Court, our specialist brain injury rehabilitation service in South Shields.

One evening, Brian was walking home from socialising after work. Suddenly, he was attacked and hit over the head. Left for dead, he was severely injured. After a long, brave journey navigating the world with an undiagnosed condition, he was eventually diagnosed with a brain injury.   

Previously a high-flying corporate executive in London, his life changed drastically. From fast-paced city life to needing full-time care, Brian struggled to accept the changes and found it difficult to adapt to his new life in a residential care home.

Retired from working, his days lacked value and purpose, causing him to present challenging behaviours. Frustrated and yearning to reclaim his independence, Brian needed specialist support that would help him reclaim a glimmer of the life that was cruelly stolen from him.  

Life before his brain injury

Born in Scotland to a well-respected family, Brian was destined for success. In his younger years, he flourished in everything he turned his hand to and soon found his way into an exciting career.

Later in life, he was blessed with two nieces! As they grew up only a few doors away from Brian, his other siblings all embarked on exciting career journeys. Spreading their wings, they branched out across the UK.

Not one to be left in the shadows, Brian seized an opportunity to start a career within property and made his way down to London.

While living in the city, he worked as a Chartered Building Surveyor by day. As a Chartered Building Surveyor, it was Brian’s job to take people’s concepts and thoughts and bring them to life. He even built two houses of his own to live in. But by night, Brian lived out his passion for theatre, regularly acting in and directing operas, musicals and plays. A seasoned thespian, Brian even appeared in a TV series called ‘’We’ll Go Where the Music Takes Us’’!

A well-rounded individual, Brian was talented and well-respected in his hobbies and his professional field. Sadly, his life was drastically impacted in his 20s, when his father suddenly passed away and he also found himself experiencing relationship difficulties.

To manage his buried emotions, Brian often enjoyed a visit to the pub on his way home from work. A sociable alcoholic beverage was a popular way for him and his colleagues to unwind after a long, tough day.

However, this habit began to unravel, and Brian began often drinking in excess as a way of silencing niggling emotions and the stress he often experienced.  

Eventually, this way of coping began to impact Brian’s health – particularly affecting his memory and behaviour.  

As he found escapism through alcohol, and his drinking became more excessive, Brian’s behaviours deteriorated quickly. He struggled to control what he said to other people. Coupled with a lack of awareness from drinking, Brian often found himself in confrontational situations. One of which would change the course of his life forever.  

Receiving a life-changing diagnosis

One evening in 2017, Brian was leaving the pub after a long day at work when he was the victim of an unforeseen attack. As he turned the corner on his walk home, he was kicked in the head and fell to the ground. Vulnerable and unable to defend himself, Brian was continuously abused, until he fell unconscious.

A passerby found him and immediately called for an ambulance. Brian was taken to hospital to receive emergency care for the injuries he had sustained.

Brian had broken his neck and gained serious facial injuries from his attack. But something deeper lay beneath the surface.

After spending time in hospital, he was discharged back to the community, without any plans for continued support. He tried to return to normal life – including going back to work. Quickly, it became apparent this wasn’t possible.

Unable to perform his duties, Brian was let go from his role. His personality started to change, and he stopped attending the theatre and directing.

Slowly, he became a shell of his former self, feeling empty and lost. He continued to turn to alcohol to numb his pain.

After his attack, Brian was no longer able to work. He began deteriorating quickly and would often go missing for long periods of time. His memory started to fade and we knew something was wrong.

Kaye, Brian’s Niece

A concerning change in behaviour

In the summer of 2018, Brian’s family noticed changes. He didn’t recognise his niece Kaye, who he had remained close with over the years.

They found many aspects of Brian’s life were surrounded by secrecy. Unaware of just how much had changed since his accident – they soon discovered he was no longer working.

Concerned for his wellbeing, they tried to trace how he was spending his days and noticed he would often wander off. Not knowing where he was going or what he was doing, they feared for his safety.

Brian’s family knew something was wrong and that his trip to hospital hadn’t remedied the full effects of his alcohol misuse or his vicious assault.

Receiving a life-changing diagnosis

In 2018, Brian was finally diagnosed with Korsakoff’s syndrome – an alcohol-related condition significantly impacting his cognitions, behaviour, and ability to live independently.

Brian’s alcohol dependency had caused damage that was beyond repair, and the trauma to his head when he was attacked created additional damage. As a result, Brian would require lifelong support.

His brain injury leads to  short-term memory loss. He can remember everything from his childhood and working life, but struggles to recall more recent events, such as what he did that morning or what happened last week.

Brian’s family were concerned about him, and after some worrying incidents where they were unable to reach him, it became clear that Brian could no longer live alone. He was placed into an emergency care home.

As an elderly care home, it wasn’t a great fit for Brian’s personality or his needs. He was surrounded by individuals with very different support needs to him. It was also far away from his family, making family visits difficult and isolating Brian further from those he loved.

After the attack, it seemed like there was a large void that nothing could fill. I didn’t know what to do. If it wasn’t for my niece, I don’t know what would have happened.

Brian, Person We Support

Moving closer to home

In August 2022, Brian joined Voyage Care, moving to a home closer to his family and that suited his needs.

Brian moved into 52 Carville Road, our brain injury rehabilitation service in Wallsend. Over the moon, Brian felt reassured that he would get the support he needed – and would be able to reclaim his independence. At first, he settled in well, particularly taking a shine to Service Manager at the time, Allan Tutty.

Empowered with confidence in his new home, Brian was optimistic for the future. He was looking forward to seeing where the future would take him, now he was receiving the right care and support. However, his positive attitude only lasted a short while before he began to encounter more challenges.  

As the days went on, Brian struggled to relate to his housemates at Carville Road. Brian didn’t display any physical symptoms from his brain injury and struggled to identify as having disabilities.

Eventually, it stopped feeling like home to him and Brian felt unsettled. He often found himself arguing with his housemates and members of his support team.

Brian found it hard to sacrifice his independence. His experience at the dementia home had taken a toll on him. He was terrified of having his freedom taken away from him. At Carville Road, his bedroom faced the car park. If he saw his housemates pop out on the minibus, he would feel left out and panic – he always felt like he should be going too.

Brian’s independence was paramount to his happiness and progression. Even though his days were filled with functional activities and lots of excursions, his memory deficits meant he couldn’t remember what he’d done. Struggling against imprinted emotions from his previous placement, he began to feel isolated and presented challenging behaviours.

Small changes, big impacts

Using their expert training, our support team at Carville Road identified what was contributing to Brian’s challenging behaviour. Understanding the car park was a trigger for him, they quickly looked for solutions, so they could keep him happy and safe.

So, when a bedroom away from the car park became available, Allan knew it would be ideal for Brian.

Ensuring he approached the situation correctly, Allan enlisted the help of Kay, suggesting she could let Brian know some nicer rooms might be available! A man of exceptional taste, Brian thought this was a great idea!

Once he viewed his new room, complete with a lovely view of the local river and shipyards, he was sold! Brian moved into his new room and even set up an area to watch the shipyard through his window. While this change massively reduced Brian’s challenging behaviour, Allan sensed this still wasn’t the best fit for him.

New beginnings at Cleadon Court

While Brian lived at Carville Road, he and Allan developed a close bond. Allan would take Brian to local football matches, reliving his favourite childhood pastime. They also went for coffees, walks, shopping, and church services, which was really important to Brian.

The time Brian spent with Allan meant a lot to him, and it really helped having someone he saw as a friend within the home. Brian always felt respected by Allan, and he always showed him respect back. They developed a relationship that made them feel like family.

Brian’s funny, friendly and sociable, we hit it off as soon as we met! Now, he’s part of the family, we’ve built a great relationship.

Allan Tutty, Community Support Worker

In 2024, we opened a new brain injury rehabilitation service – Cleadon Court – in South Shields. When we were building Cleadon Court, our team needed an expert assessor to keep us on track and ensure we were building the best brain injury rehab home possible! Who better than our very own Chartered Building Surveyor?

A professional surveyor at heart and a brain injury expert by experience, Brian was thrilled to get involved. He visited the service during the building process, offering his property expertise and knowledge on what people need after they’ve suffered a brain injury.  

Once the service was ready to open, Brian attended the open day and was honoured to be a part of something so important, helping others during their rehabilitation. When the service opened, it was the perfect fit for Brian – close to his niece and the next step in his quest for independence – he could have his own apartment and live more independently. It was an easy decision for Brian – he couldn’t wait to move in!

When the time came for Brian to move to Cleadon Court, Allan was retiring as Service Manager at Carville Road. He was such a valuable part of Brian’s rehabilitation and his life, so he decided to give a few hours a week to visit Brian at Cleadon Court, taking him out to all the places they loved to visit. This supported Brian during his move.

Since living at Cleadon Court, Brian has never been happier. He’s relaxed into his new home, crediting his newfound happiness to his support team, which included Allan.

The team at Cleadon Court have been absolutely brilliant. I couldn’t ask for any better, and they couldn’t do any better. They have support me every step of the way on every level.

Brian, Person We Support

Journey to independence

Now Brian has settled well into his new home, he has lots of fresh goals to focus on. Independence is essential to Brian, and one of his goals is to try new hobbies and discover unturned passions!

Another goal of Brian’s is to get a job. He loves to provide value to people and projects, so his ideal role would be to help charities, combining his love of working and charity shops!

We can’t wait to see what Brian achieves next!