Concussion Research and Awareness

Those who know me know that in 2019 I suffered a pretty bad concussion (on top of a few others) and spent a long time recovering. In truth, it took close to two years before I could honestly say I felt like myself. I was fortunate enough to have parents that we're able to support me in going to a private clinic when 3 months had gone by with no sign of getting better. There I received the full scope of what is needed to recover physically, emotionally, and mentally from this injury. At the start, I had 4 appointments a week of physical therapy, athletic therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and counselling. Between the appointments and take-home exercises, it was a full-time job. At this point, I'd left school not sure when I'd be back so going to these appointments and hanging out with our friend's new puppy became my life. I returned to school 8 months later in the fall and am happy to say I just graduated this August.

However, for every one of me who is fortunate enough to receive the proper treatment, there are hundreds who don't. I'm sure you've heard of someone getting concussed that was "never the same". The sad truth is that all too often concussion victims get stuck with persisting symptoms that could be resolved but don't because of misinformation, inability to access proper treatment or the endless number of issues surrounding this injury. The good news is they can recover, but they need our help. On October 8th I'm running the Victoria Royal Marathon to raise money for Brain Foundation Canada who provide funding and support for critical research to further our understanding of this injury. If concussions don't resonate with you or you or a loved one are affected by another brain condition, their funding supports research in all areas of brain health and diseases such as mental health disorders, ALS, Alzheimer's and many more.

Please reach out to me if you're suffering from a concussion and need someone to talk to. You're not alone :)

Thank you for the support!

Email: [email redacted]

Insta: @oscarblyth