(Newswire.net — August 26, 2014) — Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) can happen to anyone and statistically incidents involving traumatic brain injuries are greater than multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, HIV/AIDS, and breast cancer combined. In fact with more than eighteen thousand brain injuries reported in Ontario every year it has become the leading cause of death and disability of Canadians under the age of forty. Ruth Fernandes recently teamed up with Fabio Longo, a member of the Ontario Brain Injury Association (OBIA), on Rogers’ Daytime Toronto to discuss how people can help people affected by acquired brain injuries.
Ruth Fernandes is also a member of the Brain Injury Society of Toronto (BIST) and combining their efforts with OBIA together they hope to make Canadians aware how prevalent brain injuries really are. Traumatic brain injuries will happen unexpectedly and can be devastating to not only the survivors themselves but also their family members, caregivers, and friends. The injuries can be a result of any number of events including car accidents, slip and falls, a sports injury, and concussions. The BIST, in an effort to bring further awareness to the condition, has created the website areyouaware.ca to promote it. Acquired brain injury is often call the invisible disability because often the symptoms are not visibly evident.
It is hard for someone not being effected by this trauma to completely understand its complexity. Symptoms can include difficulties concentrating, speech issues, reading issues, nightmares, trouble sleeping, continued headaches, and their mood will be off. As every case is different one person may recover from the symptoms over time and others may never fully recuperate. While there are some treatment methods available for survivors of ABIs but currently there is no cure and it is important to get treatments within the first two years of the injury. Ruth Fernandes is a committee member for Mix & Mingle aiming to raise money to deliver important programs to individuals and families dealing with the effects of brain injury
The Mix & Mingle is an event hosted by the Ontario Brain Injury Association & Brain Injury Society of Toronto. This year celebrated the Mix & Mingle’s 10th anniversary and Neinstein & Associates has helped raise more than half a million dollars over the last 5 years for BIST and OBIA to help families dealing with brain injuries. This event promotes awareness in order to help change the world for brain injury survivors and break down the barriers.
The segment from Daytime Toronto featuring Ruth Fernandes and Fabio Longo can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIJRYPknjnM
More News from Neinstein and Associates: Neinstein & Associates Raise Awareness for Brain Injury Survivors
Contact: Greg Neinstein from Neinstein and Associates