March is the awareness month of the silent epidemic of 50.000.000 Brain Injury cases every year. It is necessary to inform the general public about Brain Injury, its consequences on everyday life, about rehabilitation and the need for prevention.

Evi X., an ELEPAP Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Unit graduate, tells her personal story about the long path to rehabilitation:

In May 2009 I was the victim of a road accident that changed my life. It resulted in serious motor difficulties-I use a wheelchair. In 2018 I managed to graduate from the Department of International and European Studies of the University of Piraeus with lots of studying and support. I was a 3^rd year student when I was injured. The required effort was huge since brain damage causes changes to many parts of the brain and you should know about them in order to know the “tricks” to overcome them.

These difficulties gradually emerge in every aspect of our lives. In an effort to find a way out of a repetitive daily life, I joined ELEPAP’s unique program of Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation in the spring of 2018. I realized that there were additional mental difficulties, mainly in my perception of information, in the way I express myself and more importantly in organizing my life, in setting priorities about my needs and my wishes, in managing situations. All things that affected my everyday functioning beyond the motor difficulties on which I had been focusing from the start.

Brain injury is a chronic condition that changes with time and therefore requires adjustment and feedback. By gradually understanding the difficulties and by acquiring the means to manage them, I see constant improvement. It is a laborious effort but with proper guidance I am able to become as independent as possible and more importantly, to set objectives and become more active. Since last year I mentor students by raising awareness on road accidents and their consequences. I want to contribute to the World Awareness Campaign on Brain Damage with my testimony and the slogan: “We are more than our brain injury.”