Trauma Survivors in the News

Barts Charity’s trauma appeal was relaunched in September, and has put the UK media spotlight back on civilian trauma survivors.

On the 29^th September, The Sunday Mirror published a moving piece on Evi who had suffered severe injuries and scarring from a road traffic collision in 2015. Evi talks about her loneliness and fears of intimacy that followed the accident, but she eventually found a caring partner in Omar who “thought my scars were beautiful because they are a part of me”. Evi shares more of her story on the AfterTrauma YouTube channel.

On 24^th September, the Daily Express published a spread on elderly trauma, including an interview with Dr Elaine Cole and featuring 70 year old trauma survivor Renate. Dr Cole’s research for the Centre for Trauma Sciences aims to improve understanding of the impact and improve treatment of severe injury in older people. Dr Cole explained that “We used to call trauma the disease of the under-40s but we realised there’s a large increase in the proportion of elderly people and not just over 60s, but over 75s and 80s.” who are suffering severe injuries. These include “falling during DIY, road-traffic crashes, pedestrians or cyclists being hit by large vehicles”

And on 13^th October, The Sunday Mirror featured Shan Martin, who spoke about working through her bucket list after being hit by a car. Shan was only given a 6% chance of survival after a RTC in 2015, and she attributes her remarkable recovery in part to the importance of setting life goals and the support of her family and friends. You can read more detail about Shan’s story here.

Published 23rd October 2018

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