Almost six years after a former boyfriend's assault left her with a severe brain injury and unable to move or speak, Alliance advocate, Angela Barker, travelled to New York to participate in a special session of the United Nations General Assembly on children.

One of only 15 young women from around the world at the meeting, Anj and her colleagues examined issues of women's health and learnt how to pursue policy change at a four-day conference at the UN.  After researching whether governments were fulfilling commitments on issues of women's health, the group joined a UN special session on the final two days.

For Anj and her family, their time in New York is a far cry from the time in 2002 when she was punched, kicked and stomped on by a youth after she had tried to end their relationship. Anj was comatose for three weeks, spent three years in a nursing home undergoing Slow To Recover rehab and remains in a wheelchair.  Doctors warned at the time that she might never emerge from a vegetative state.  

Despite being only 16 years old, her family were advised to place Anj in an aged care nursing home.  Her parent’s refusal to accept this as the only alternative for their daughter and their determination to ensure she received the rehabilitation she needed eventually saw Anj taken into Victoria’s Slow To Recover (STR) program.  The only program of its type in Australia, STR is a slow stream rehabilitation program for young people with brain injury that provides up to 2 years of rehabilitation and other supports. 

Anj’s tenacity and determination to recover didn’t stop there however.  She was determined to use her own experience to make others aware of the dangers of domestic violence and was the figurehead of a national campaign on the issue aimed at young people.

"I hate myself for not realising how bad the situation was that I was in, (but) I tell myself I was only young," Ms Barker said yesterday. "I was stupid. I wish I had somehow got myself out. Now I am so much wiser."

As well as having recovered some speech, Anj also communicates through a computer that makes written presentations audible.

"I am very proud of myself," she said of her recovery and new role informing schoolchildren, police and social workers of the horror she endured. "I tell my story and everything that has happened. I want women to take control of their lives and their relationships."

Anj’s mother, Helen, says her daughter’s wellbeing is improving despite forecasts two years after her injuries were sustained that further recovery was unlikely.  Yet none of this would have been possible without the dedicated rehabilitation Anj received and the commitment of her parents to support her recovery themselves.

Without a doubt, Anj is one of the lucky ones.  But recovering from serious injury should not be a matter of luck.  The irony is that if Anj had been injured in a Victorian registered car or at work, she would have received the support she needed through the TAC or WorkCover.  Because she wasn’t injured in a car or at work, her family had to fight for even the most minimal of supports. 

Anj’s story vividly declares why dedicated catastrophic injury insurance is needed and needed now.  Without it, recovery from injury will always be a matter of luck.  Is that what you would want if this happened to you?