Head Injury

Please press the “Follow” button in the lower right hand corner of the screen to be alerted by email when I (infrequently) update the website.

I’m a guy called Simon Head, I can be emailed at:  simon_head_email@yahoo.co.uk Please email me or phone my mobile: 07979 603069 when you have read the webpage.

I was stupid (unfortunate) enough to get a severe brain injury in March 2006. This brain injury doesn’t effect my intelligence, I’m still as bright or thick as before but it has caused the muscles on the right side of my body to be reduced in size and strength and they are more difficult for me to control. It has also meant that my balance is appalling and that my right hand bicep works all the time, this is called spasticity by medical experts, making work on other muscles like triceps difficult. My speech is also bad but getting better all the time.

I got this injury, for I insist on calling it an injury because of how I got it, by falling off my KTM 450 motorbike in a race in North Africa called the Tuareg Rally. I fell off my motorbike whilst attempting a jump. Apparently I am lucky to still be alive. A picture showing how good my helmet was after the accident is shown on the right:

I used to work at McLaren F1 where I was a Design Engineer. They made me redundant, temporarily I hope, because I think I couldn’t drive myself to work.

My brain injury hasn`t effected my brain but my muscles on the right side of my body or the brain coccection. My brain has a job computing messages to my leg muscle for example and a new way to tell that muscle what you want it to do has to be developed.  It doesn`t  just effect my muscles it also effects my balance.

My brain injury is a bit like a PC virus. I try to do things like walk and I have problems with my balance and fall over.

Mclaren

I used to work at Mclaren F1 as a Design Engineer. I was designing the rear suspension on the Formula 1 car.

Before ‘letting me go’ Mclaren let me keep a computer which is great.

Before I worked at McLaren I used to work at a place called Reynard who designed and manufactured American Indycars. These were single seater carbon fibre racing cars destined for the American market. The company was founded and run by Adrian Reynard.

Driving

I can’t drive myself at the moment because of my injury.

I had to learn to drive again, I’ve lost control of the mucles in the right side of my body, athough I’m very slowly getting control back. The first thing I did to learn to drive again was to go Go-karting in Oxford at Karting Oxford because I could get control of the muscles that work the accelerator and the steering wheel.

After going Go-Karting a few times I was told by a friend Barry Ward that I could buy a Logitech G25 steering wheel and pedals and use a computer game called R-Factor to do some driving simulation on my PC, and they fly aeroplanes after doing computer simulations so it does work.

I bought s Logitech G25 steering wheel from Ebay and started playing R-Factor which is a good driving game that you can drive a car around a circuit using the Logitech G25 pedals and steering wheel.

Hospitals

Firstly I got taken to hospital Virgin del Rocio in Seville (Spain) because the hospitals in Africa were considered to rough. I then was flown to Oxfordshire and went to the John Radcliffe. When I was released from the John Radcliffe hospital I went into the OCE , Oxford Centre for Enablement, a hospital for people with head injuries. I stayed in hospital until December 2006 then I was released into the bright world and I uttered a small untrue phrase but it is how I felt: “FREEDOM!”

When I was in the OCE I was told about a company called Physiofunction http://www.physiofunction.co.uk whom I had to buy a SeaboFlex hand device from, I also bought a SeaboStrech hand splint from them.

I learnt about the Functional Electrical Stimulation due to a friend Zoe Digweed telling me about it. When I used to walk my toes pointed down because my calf was too strong from all the cycling I used to do. FES is an Odstock Medical device www.odstockmedical.com/ that stimulates the muscles at the front of the shinbone and works the foot lift.

I currently use a plastic foot splint made for me at OCE as pictured.

Cycling

I used to be really into cycling.I was in a club called VC Venta. I was quite good, so good in fact that I won a couple of road races and numerous track races. The great thing about cycling is that I made some very good friends. The other good thing, considering my current injured condition is that a device that we used to use for training, called a turbotrainer, is supposed to be good for helping my legs to move faster and therefore helping me to run. The bicycle is bolted on it, so makes no demands on the users balance it is very good for fitness. The next thing I will try is set of rollers as pictured below. I bought them from this website: http://www.sprocket.crazynot2.com

The rollers allow use of the handlebars and front wheel for steering so are good for balance because the bike is not bolted in position so is free to move. Using the rollers is my next aim.

Before I was into cycling I was into canoeing. I used to compete in slaloms for a club called Winchester and District Canoe Club which was near to wear I used to live. I used to live with my parents in a place called Fair Oak which is in the South of England, pretty much equidistant from Southampton and Winchester.

The great thing about the gym & swimming pool is the people you meet there  both staff and customers.

 

Physiofunction

The other people that are helping me are a company called Physiofunction run by Jon Graham. I was originally introduced to them because they did the Saebo hand splints which I needed because  my right hand was always tensed up into a fist.  They do a lot of work with people who have had strokes.

PhysioFunction Ltd
50 High Street
Long Buckby
Northants
NN6 7RD

Triathlon

I think the way forward for me is to race in a triathlon. Years ago I used to do bicycle racing and triathlons are similar except it doesn’t matter if you weigh more because of extra muscle built for swimming.

When I can swim, run, and cycle, I’m going to enter a triathlon and be sposored to raise money for a charity that supports people who’ve had a stroke or got a brain injury.

I’m not going to look for another job until I have competed in a triathlon and can drive again.

Speech and Language

Because of how bad my speech had become my Grandad employed a fantastic lady called Gillian Hazell. Each day I had to repeat a list of words that Gillian has given me. These words were broken into syllables that make them easier to pronounce. She breaks them into syllables by adding a minus sign after each syllable, so that would become sy-lab-ble

Swimming

Currently I do my best to try to swim the crawl stroke once a week and I used to be able to swim quite well. Its good excersise for my RH shoulder and it helps my walking balance. Swimming is all about technique it’s not about power or speed. I use a buoyancy aid as pictured.   It is buoyant enough to support my whole body and it’s good because I can use my arms and swim with a proper technique.   I’ve also got some foot floats that keeps my legs afloat and I use them to keep my legs afloat when I am holding onto the side of the pool to stretch my right shoulder out.   With the bouyancy aid on I can swim 20 lengths in 30 minutes.

Running

I was advised by Patrick Davis,  a guy who had a stroke so had similar injuries to mine and can now run, to walk on grassy footpaths not pavements because they are rough and uneven and challenge your balance and are a very good way to start running. Last week, the week commencing Monday 5th July 2010 I walked for 75 minutes every day and did not lose my balance once. Eventually my balance will be good enough that I will run.

Because I walk a lot, 6 days a week, eventually I got a device through the Primary Care Trust called an FES and this helps me because I’ve got a dropped foot.  Basically the unit provides an electrical current to pads that are on my shin and lift my foot higher as I take a stride.  I only wear the pads while I am walking, for one hour and 15 minutes each day, as the skin can become irritated underneath.