Living his dream

Brain injury survivor Sam’s dream was to visit California – and thanks to the support of his professional team, he was able to do that. Here, we look at the roles of his Deputy, case manager and occupational therapist in enabling Sam to fulfill his ambition

Sam suffered a brain haemorrhage when he was born which led to a lifelong brain injury. It has left him struggling with fatigue, mentally and physically, and memory problems. 

But despite his challenges, he refuses to let anything hold him back. He lives an active and busy life, and travel is one of his particular passions. 

“I did my first trip when I was 19, after that I got the travel bug and just wanted to see more. You learn so much with travelling, travel broadens the mind and helps you improve and grow as a person,” he says. 

“I always wanted to go to California, I always wanted to experience it. Even if it was just for one day, I wanted to experience what the Californian lifestyle was all about.”

With the support of his professional support network, all of whom had key roles to play, his dream was able to become reality. Accompanied by a support worker, Sam was able to visit California for two weeks, visiting Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“We had everything planned day to day and that really helped me because every time I looked at that timetable, I knew when we were doing things. It helped mentally to have a plan in my head of what we were doing,” says Sam. 

“I knew that if it was an evening show we were going to see, I would be able to have a lie in the following morning so I could recover some of my fatigue levels.” 

As a brain injury survivor who is hugely proud of his independence, Sam encourages others to explore the opportunity to travel and spread their wings as he has done. 

“For anyone with a brain injury who wants to travel, I would say have a chat with the people you are working with. Tell them where you would like to go and what you would like to do. The support will help you not just to have the experience, but to enjoy the experience,” he says.

Here, we look at the roles of Sam’s support team in helping him to live his dream. 

The Deputy

Paul Kelly at Slater and Gordon is Sam’s Deputy. The firm has supported Sam since childhood, initially securing a settlement from the NHS Trust responsible for his brain injury which gave him lifelong financial provision for his care needs, and now support Sam through the Court of Protection in managing his funds. 

“I meet with Sam regularly and we have a lot of discussions about what he wants to do, and look at how we can achieve empowering him to make decisions himself. We want to do all we can to enable him to live a life as close to being without a brain injury as possible,” says Paul. 

“Sam approached me last year about his once in a lifetime trip to the US. He had grand ideas of where he wanted to go and what he wanted to see, and my position as his Deputy was to look at the various aspects around this.” 

Sam’s safety and the funding behind it were two key considerations for Paul – but knowing how important this was for Sam, Paul worked closely with his case manager and occupational therapist in ensuring it could be possible. 

“We had to look very closely at any medical needs while he was away, and securing the insurance for this, and also budgeting very carefully to make the trip achievable,” says Paul. 

“Once we had set the foundations and realised it was achievable, we then looked at what we could put in place regarding safeguarding and risk assessments to ensure Sam could enjoy his trip of a lifetime with all necessary steps taken to protect him.” 

The case manager 

Louise Wolsey of Active Case Management is Sam’s case manager, who was hugely supportive of him having this opportunity. 

“We wanted Sam to have the time of his life but we wanted him to do it safely. We needed him to come home in one piece with a head full of gorgeous memories having loved his time there,” she says. 

Highly detailed risk assessments were put together to cover the various activities Sam would be taking part in on his trip, with the budget and a schedule also being key considerations. 

“We needed to help Sam manage his budget and to maintain his independence in different environments and different spending situations, to make sure he has enough money to have the time of his life,” she says. 

“We also planned his time because fatigue is an issue for Sam, he had quite a meticulously planned timetable. He has great insight but he can get carried away in the moment and we wanted to make sure he enjoyed all of it. That means being rested for some of the time to have a busy day the day after. 

“We also gave him a pack of information which was very carefully ordered so that the documentation he needed for travelling, for budgeting, insurance, risk management, everything was in this one pack. It was easily accessible for the support worker so that nothing was missing.” 

The occupational therapist 

Ryan Price, of Heads Up Therapies, is Sam’s occupational therapist. His input into the practicalities of the trip was invaluable. 

“The crux of occupational therapy is engaging them in activities that are meaningful to them, and a lot of the time that can be holidays. Trying to facilitate this can be difficult – there are increased risks, support and costs, but we will always do all we can to make this happen,” he says. 

“Sam wrote some blogs for us, one of which was about travel and the role that plays in his rehabilitation, and I was really inspired by that and it has really prompted me to develop in my work. 

“It was great to see how he was being supported by his case manager and Deputy to go on this once in a lifetime trip that has now turned into something he wants to do every year!”