Mr. Conor Devlin:

I thank the Chairman and members for inviting me to attend. On 3 December 2012, aged 14, I sustained a very significant brain injury following a very serious road traffic accident in which my Dad was also seriously injured. I sustained a fractured base of skull, a bleed to the cerebellum, which affected the balance part of my brain, a fractured cheekbone, facial scarring and I had a large frontal lobe involvement and this affected my emotions and the cognitive part of my brain. I could not rationalise anything; I was an emotional wreck. I had a distal axonal injury, where my brain bounced off my skull causing loads of little bleeds all around it.
On 3 December 2013, one year to the day of my accident, I appeared on "Ireland AM" and on various radio stations before making a presentation in the Dáil and submitting a petition of more than 4,000 names highlighting the fact that there is no support services, group or organisation providing specialist advices or services to teenagers or their families and following an acquired brain injury.
An acquired brain injury is life changing. I never thought it would happen to me or my family. It only takes a split second for one's life or the lives of others to be changed forever. The lack of dedicated services and the lack of a support group or organisations specialising in acquired brain injury for this age group has made a difficult experience turn into a terrifying journey for our family.
Everyone who sustains an acquired brain injury deserves the right to return to live the best life that he or she can live. I have been very lucky with the recovery I have made. I know that my outcome might not have been so good if my Mum had not fought so tirelessly to ensure that I got the specialised care that I required. I continue two years post-accident to require psychology, speech and language and occupational therapy support. I avail of these supports to ensure that I am prepared and supported with my higher level learning for my leaving certificate. Different problems have arisen during the last two years and having these supports in place has helped me come to terms and cope with so many problems and these problems continue to arise. The psychology support that Mum eventually secured for me through ABI Ireland in Cashel - although its remit is for adults only - has and continues to be invaluable. During the early stages of my recovery I also needed physiotherapy and psychiatric support. I was so sad and confused about what was happening it felt like I was in a constant nightmare and I could not understand why I could not wake up and get back to the real world. I was physically and emotionally very weak. I expressed suicidal tendencies and just wanted to get home.
Everything changes for one following an acquired brain injury. Despite my determination not to let my acquired brain injury determine me, life has been difficult at times. I was a pupil at Rockwell College when the accident happened. I enjoyed school and loved rugby. I had a good circle of friends and a good relationship with my teachers. However, following the accident I felt lost. I can express now that I was traumatised, my whole sense of who I was disappeared. I was very hard on myself and my confidence in myself was shattered especially when it came to sports. I over analysed everything in my performance in sports. I tried so hard to play well that I ended up playing worse and used to beat myself up over it. I did not know where I belonged anymore. Over time I made up my mind that I wanted to make a new start and change schools. I know my Mum and Dad were very nervous about this as they were afraid I was potentially jumping from the frying pan into the fire. I just wanted a new start that no one was comparing me to the pre-accident Conor. I needed to be accepted for who I was now without comparisons; I didn’t want to be the brain injury kid. I moved schools in September and feel very happy with my decision. Having the specialised supports already in place ensured that I made an informed decision and was aware of the potential difficulties that lay ahead. The importance of continuous supports is paramount following an acquired brain injury. However, as a teenager many changes are naturally occurring in our bodies, physically and emotionally, and throwing a head injury into the mix without specialised supports and advices, one could find oneself in potentially very scary territory. Some teenagers can appear to have made a good initial recovery only for cognitive, social, emotional, or behavioural problems to become apparent later with age and development. An acquired brain injury affects the teenager’s future acquisition of skills and it can throw their normal development process off- track.
In my opinion having specialised support services in place in the community would save money for the State in the long term. I had with my mother’s hard work and perseverance secured the specialised services I needed in the community prior to going to the national rehabilitation unit in Dún Laoghaire. These services were scattered all over the country in Tipperary, Tullamore, Mallow and Cork. As a result of this, I only had to do a two-week assessment in the National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH, before being discharged home to continue with my community supports. I was one of the lucky ones who had a good support system in place before leaving the NRH.

Many children and teenagers following an acquired brain injury, ABI, leave the National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH, where they have spent weeks and months with the security of having all the required specialised services under one roof only to have little or no supports in the community. This is frightening for families and leaves them distressed and vulnerable. Members have no idea. It is crazy that, in this country, there are only six beds and two day beds - six beds are shared with children with spinal cord injuries - for all of the children requiring these specialised services. There is a long waiting list.

Teenagers and younger children have to follow the same rules in the NRH. We had to go to bed early, etc. In an ideal world, older children would have a specialised area to themselves where they could watch a movie, play music or just chat. I found this difficult. My confidence and independence were knocked, as we had to adhere to the same rules as two year olds. Teenagers are the most high-risk age group for ABIs. Why is there no room for us?

In the Oireachtas last year, I heard my brother Paul speak for the first time about life for him following my ABI. Paul was amazing and such an important part of my recovery, but I was shocked to hear him talk about what a devastating effect it had on him.