There will always be mountains that I will have to climb, and there will be oceans that I will have to cross, victory or defeat-its up to me to decide. Always know you have a choice, recovery is possible. I am privileged to use what I have learned to uplift, bless, and enrich the lives of others. This little light of mine, is in reality a great beacon that glows eternally across the universe. LUCKY 7 Headway of WNY Walk, Run, & wheel 2014 Hello Friends and Family! Yes it is that time again and I am asking for your help once again. Together we have raised the highest amount for 6 years in a row! Lets make it 7!!! Please Sponsor Me and Headway of WNY in the Seventh Annual Walk, Run, & Wheel! Checks, Money Orders, or Cash in any amount is accepted. Headway of WNY is a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency and all donations can be written off on your taxes. A receipt will be provided if you would like. On behalf of Headway of WNY, Head/Brain Injury Survivors, and Myself, I thank you in advance. Mark M. Shaw BIANYS 32ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE Uniting as the Voice of Brain Injury, BIANYS 32nd Annual Conference took place on Thursday, June 5 & 6 in Albany, NewYork. The annual conference brings together several hundred individuals with brain injuries, family members, caregivers, health professionals, providers and other interested individuals for learning and sharing. Headway Volunteer and survivor of brain injury, Mark Shaw (featured in the Spring 2013 issue of this newsletter) presented at this year’s conference and shared his experience in the passage below. Mark Shaw, student and leader of a peersupport group for survivors of brain injury that meets in Niagara County, was part of a panel presenting at the annual conference of the Brain Injury Association of NYS in Albany in June. The panel topic was “Ask the Experts: So I Have a Brain Injury…NowWhat?” Itwas designed primarily forthose newto brain injury,to learn aboutsteps and strategies forcoping with brain injury. “June 6, 2014 was the day of the conference that I was on a panel of survivors. The group was called AskThe ExpertsWe spoke to fellow survivors as well as Family members. Some spoke of their new lives and what they do now from writing to public speaking and rallys in DC to writing. I personally used myself as an example and said DONT GIVE UP! Doctors said that I would NEVER walk again even with a walker and I shouldnt have either longterm or short term memory or perhaps both, but I do. I told of going back to school and am now in Graduate School and I said it gives me satisfaction to do thing that I am told it is not likely or possible at all just so I can sayDID IT! nowwhat? I also told them that Doctors know what they read in a textbook and not the individual or what the individual is capable of. At first I was told 1 year, then 3 years, then 5 years would be the limit of time to get back what I am going to get back. In a few days (June15) it will be 10 years since I got sick and I am still making gains. I think that all of the panelists gave hope to those new toTBI. I also threw in there that I liike to look at the glass as half full rather than half empty and that even in what seems like the worst times of ones life, there is still a silverlining there somewhere. It may not be very apparent and you might have to do some searching, but there is one lurkingin the shadows. Using me as an example again I said I was mad at the world at first, but eventuallyI found my silverlining and it was falling into a perfect fitting career path.” Thank you Mark! We applaud you for all you do to make the world a better place for those around you! To learn more about the Brain Injury Association of NYS, visit their website at bianys.org. Headway sends kudos to Mark, not only for his determination in his recovery, but also for his determination to volunteer and give back to others in the process.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 21:00:48 +0000
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