ONE FOOT AFTER THE OTHER

From the 4th - 15th of November 2020 I (Amy Telfer Chiles) wiill walk the 152 km Otago Central Rail Trail to raise funds for the Brain Injury Association Otago.

The journey will be a challenge taking 12 days. The hardest part will be walking day after day. Tiredness resulting from my brain injury will be my biggest enemy. The days are planned around an average of 15 km per day - I will push myself to the limit but it's a distance I know I can achieve. A couple of days are longer and a couple are quite short. I’ve popped a rest day in the middle as I’m aware my body will need this. I feel confident in my schedule and its achievability.

MY STORY

25 years ago, at 16 years old, I received a traumatic brain injury during a car accident.

After 10 days in a coma I awoke to a completely new way of life. I do not remember waking up but I do remember the sounds and smells, tubes and wires. My body felt heavy and I was paralysed down my left side.

The following weeks and months were spent learning how to live again. This included lots of occupational, physio and speech therapy while learning how to speak, eat, swallow and adjust to life with a disability, chronic fatigue and confusion.

Pretty quickly I regained enough strength and movement in my left leg to learn to walk again. When learning to walk again the simple task of putting one foot after the other was incredibly difficult.

Despite years and years of physio I did not regain full use of my hand or fingers. However it is what it is and I am incredibly privileged to have regained the amount of movement I have.

In the early days adjusting to having a physical disability was hard. Everything had to be learnt again - how to prepare food, tie shoelaces, do up zips, tie back hair, everything. How I did things needed to be adapted.

Years on all of the adaptations are second nature and undertaken without thought. I prefer to look for a way to do something rather than a reason to avoid it.

These days for me living with brain injury means being tired. Most of the time I am tired. My party trick is yawning on demand, and not because I’m bored!!

I am very lucky that I know when I need to stop, meaning my tiredness does not get in the way of my safety or that of others.

I have an incredibly supportive and understanding family. My husband, 2 children and niece are there to back me up in all I do.

ABOUT THE BRAIN INJURY ASSOCIATION

All funds raised will go to the Brain Injury Association Otago - an organisation I have been involved with for many many years.

The Brain Injury Association provides support, advocacy, and education in order to promote quality life that maximizes potential, choice and independence for people affected by brain injury.

The Brain Injury Association provide a free and independent service throughout the entire Otago area.

The service provides an ongoing link for those with brain injury in the community as they struggle to rebuild their lives after brain injury. Individuals, agencies and medical providers can refer to the service.