Many of you have written to SameYou about your experience of brain injury and told us how you identified with Emilia's story. There was a common feeling of relief about hearing a familiar story from someone young, and speaking out to normalize the injury. People were comforted that Emilia had gone through something similar to them or to a family member or loved one.
The overwhelming emotion was of gratitude that Emilia was breaking her silence and that enabled and emboldened so many others to tell their brain injury story - some for the first time. It was as if people now have permission to speak out about their story.
I get days when I just want to give up. But after hearing your story it has made me realize, I'm not on my own!
You have told us that by sharing your stories, and reading other people's, offers hope, comfort and much needed peer-to-peer support that is often hard to find.
SameYou have created this support resource called Portraits to tell the untold story of brain injury. If you would like to share your story, you can submit your story via our Share your story page.
In October 2021, I was on the way back from a university rugby match when the vehicle I was travelling in was in a car accident. Everyone was unharmed but shortly after I had a massive headache. The next morning, I went to A&E with slurred speech, head pain and (unbeknownst at the time) a TIA.
I am a survivor of an inoperable benign brain tumor. They gave me two weeks to live but I was blessed with a wonderful doctor who was able to get the brain tumor completely removed from my head.
I was 33 years old when I had a Non-Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. I remember the exact moment it happened; my mouth lost all its saliva, and I became dizzy. I went and sat down and immediately felt a sudden rush from my spine to the top of my head.
I was 33 years old when I had my stroke. When I got to the hospital the doctor who greeted me at the door was one of my clients who is stroke specialist, so I knew they suspected that this might be the issue.
I am a young stroke survivor from Brazil. As an architect and also a Makeup Artist, I have always loved anything that would allow me to express myself and impact others in a positive way.
I got hit by a car in June 2015. I suffered from 3 brain hemorrhages, a broken neck and an ABI.
Back in 2015 I was an alcoholic battling suspected PTSD. One night I developed aspirated pneumonia. I was rushed to the hospital. From there, I spent weeks on a ventilator.
I’m a media producer and a survivor of a ruptured AVM that happened in 1990 when I was thirty years old.
In May 2019, aged 32 years old, I contracted encephalitis. It started as a headache at the base of my skull, dizziness and vomiting. The hospital diagnosed me with migraine and vertigo before sending me back home.
Just shy of my 25th birthday, I was on a date saying goodbye to a friend. As I stepped out of his vehicle, I got a whirling sensation in my head and high-pitched ringing in my ears and dropped to the ground.