News that the injury happened

Support is vital to the healing system. A brain injury is new to their life and need to work on accepting what happened.

No matter when you get your brain injury, someone is going to give you the news that you sustained a brain injury. Whether it is the doctor or family when you wake up or if it is your parents when you are of the right age.

The news is difficult to hear, and I could imagine it tough to give. It is a life-changing event, and people handle rough news in different ways.

I think that the best thing people can do when they break the news to them is just giving it time. The person just heard something tragic about what happened to them.

It will take some time to accept it. There are days where I have not accepted it, and I have had my injury for 24 years. I have known about it for probably 16 years but still.

Taking the News in

As the person telling them, let them come to you with questions. The sheer fact they found out they have a brain injury is overwhelming enough.

They will ask more questions about the event when they are ready. Some may be ready to ask questions right away and others it may take a few days to begin to wonder.

If it is you who has received the news, allow yourself to take it in. It is a lot to hear. When you are ready questions will come, and you can begin to understand what happened and what it means for your future.

There are still things I am learning about my brain injury. After one has come to terms with the event, they may start thinking towards the future.

Thinking about the future is a good sign, I believe. This may involve talks about therapy and ways to get back to their best life.

This is not a subject to push on. Let the person who gets the news come to you.

Please read my story to further understand why I started this blog.

Process of Coming to Terms

At some point after a brain injury you will learn what happened. You will have to learn a different way of living or learn to adapt. It can be tough at first but it gets better.

Since I got my injury at a young age, my parents needed to explain to me what happened. Of course, they had to wait until I was old enough to understand and process it.


Before that moment, I remember thinking to myself that something ‘wasn’t right with me.’ I had this feeling that there was something that made me different. When kids are growing up, being different can be a big deal.


When my parents decided it was time for me to know, my mind went blank. I don’t really remember what I thought or how I reacted. It was big news.


This news was tough to wrap my head around. I am sure it is no matter how old you are when you get your injury. There are a lot of questions going through your mind.


Fortunately for me, I was able to take time to process it. I was young enough when I initially heard the story that I kept adding details as I grew. This made for a much slower time to process.


My questions came with that and not all at once. The question that appeared a lot was why. Why did this happen to me?


I am still trying to answer that question, but I have to believe that there is some reason it happened. There is a reason for everything.

Process and Acceptance


Accepting what has happened to you will take time. It requires time to fully process and understand what your life is going to look like now.


This takes time, and everyone will have their own timeline for it to happen. It is a huge change. Allow yourself to grieve and be mad.


After that step, you need to be willing to learn what your new life is going to look like.

If you are interesting in the story of my brain injury please click here.