Support group launched for young brain injury survivors

After Matters

Maxine Hayden, the mother of a client of Slater and Gordon’s serious injury team, and friends Louise Bird and Hayley Jones have launched a support group offering aftercare and support for young people and their families after a brain injury.

After Matters was founded after Maxine and Louise’s sons, aged 17 and 18 at the time, were both rushed into the same hospital for emergency surgery after sustaining traumatic brain injuries in separate incidents.

The two women became close and offered emotional support to one another during the long and difficult recovery process for their children. They don’t want other families to experience difficulty when accessing support services and resources in the same ways that they did.

To combat this, the two mothers want to help by signposting people in the right direction for the help they need, as well as offering a space to speak with other parents who’ve been through, or are going through, a similar situation.

Life-changing brain injury

Maxine’s son, Matthew, who’s now a trustee for After Matters, suffered a life-changing traumatic brain injury when he was assaulted in 2018 alongside his friend Josh Jones, who’s also an active member of After Matters.

Speaking on his involvement in the charity, Matthew says: “I know how lonely and scary having a traumatic brain injury can be and I want to help other young people who are dealing with their new life after brain injury and that is why I have joined After Matters as a trustee and advocate to help other young brain injury survivors as much as I can.”

Another key member of the charity is Slater and Gordon’s principal lawyer Sabrina Lawlor. Sabrina leads the Disability and Accessibility Network at Slater and Gordon which supports our disabled employees and customers, and she was honoured to be invited to provide support for After Matters as a trustee for the charity.

Seeking support

To learn more about After Matters and the services that they offer to brain injury survivors and their loved ones, see this here. Or, if you’d like to learn more about Matthew’s story and the background behind After Matters, see the video we’ve put together on his journey here.

If you or a family member has suffered a traumatic brain injury and needs to speak to a legal expert, get in touch with us today or call us on 0330 041 5869.