Brain Injury Awareness Month

CAPTION: Members of the Brain Injury Association were at City Hall in Summerside Monday as Mayor Basil Stewart signs a proclamation to make June Brain Injury Awareness month. Back from left: Harry Zarins, executive director of the Brain Injury Association of Canada, Barb Butler, Vice President of the Brain Injury Association of Canada, Patty Nispel, Vice President of the Brain Awareness Association of P.E.I. Front from left, Mayor Basil Stewart and Kenneth Murnaghan, President of the Brain Injury Association of P.E.I.

June declared Brain Injury Awareness month in Summerside

Ryan Quigley

Journal Pioneer

June was officially declared Brain Injury Awareness month in Summerside, as Mayor Basil Stewart signed the proclamation Monday afternoon at City Hall.

Members of the Brain Injury Association of Canada, executive director Harry Zarins and vice president Barb Butler, were there to support the event as well as members of the Brain Injury Association of Prince Edward Island, president Kenneth Murnaghan and vice president Patty Nispel.

Prince Edward Island’s provincial government had signed a Proclamation to make June Brain Injury Awareness month in the later part of May.

Stewart said he appreciates the effort of the association and their work and hopes this helps those in Summerside suffering brain injuries.

“(For helping those suffering brain injuries) We certainly hope it is to the positive, the more information that can be provided, the better. There’s a lot of information that was left here today that will be distributed to each department in the city.”

Stewart said it is important Summerside residents be careful when dealing in situations that could cause brain injury.

“I think it’s very important everyone should be careful, care for one another, watch out for one another.”

Zarins, Executive said the organization is trying to create awareness for what he calls a “silent epidemic”.

“People don’t realize that we have 1.4 million people in Canada have an acquired brain injury and we figure that on the Island of P.E.I. we have about 300 occur every year, from mild to serious brain injuries and people should be aware of it.”

Zarins said the goal is to get volunteers to help out with the Brain Injury Association of P.E.I. and to create awareness for those struggling with a Brain Injury.

“Creating awareness in terms of looking at some type of support services on the Island for those who have a brain injury and also prevention. Certainly one way to cure brain injury is through prevention.”

Murnaghan said this event is important to him because he had suffered a brain injury about 40 years ago.

“This is another big milestone. Certainly getting word out about the brain injury association,” he said. “People are out there, people with brain injuries, and they’re just sitting at home because they don’t know what to do.”

Murnaghan said people’s thoughts on brain injuries have been getting more progressive in the last couple of years.

“Brain injuries use to be a stigma, from my point of view, nobody would come out and say anything. Now over the past few years people are starting to come around.”

The Brain Injury Association of Canada plans to hold their national conference at the University of Prince Edward Island from August 24-26.

Fact Box:

-About 175,000 people in Canada suffer a brain injury a year

-Traumatic Brain Injury is more common than breast cancer, spinal cord injury, HIV and multiple sclerosis combined.

- The most common cause of a brain injury is falls (37.5 per cent) followed by motor-vehicle accident (17.3 per cent), struck by / against events (16.5 per cent) assaults (10 per cent) and unknown / other incidents at (21 per cent).

-  Males are 59 per cent of those diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.

Source: Brain Injury Association of Canada