Source: The Orlando Record [Brent Davis, RECORD STAFF]

Brain injury a devastating, lifelong condition that needs lifelong support

No one chooses to become a member of this club.

And yet every day, about 49 Ontarians join, new names on the growing list of people living with an acquired brain injury.

Nearly 430,000 people who have suffered such an injury call this province home. How many have slipped through the cracks?

Far too many, if you ask John Kumpf. He's the executive director of the Ontario Brain Injury Association and a representative of the Ontario Alliance for Action on Brain Injury, a group advocating for better support services for survivors.

"We want the Ontario government to realize this is not just a health concern," Kumpf said yesterday during a visit to Kitchener's Opportunity Centre. Operated by Participation House Waterloo-Wellington, the King Street West facility offers programs and support to people living with brain injuries.

Survivors are often overrepresented in the homeless and prison populations, Kumpf said. Others lose their homes, their jobs, even their families, with precious little information on where to turn for help.

In many cases, the injuries aren't readily apparent, and victims suffer in silence.

Tax dollars go toward things like incarceration, Kumpf said, when they should be funnelled into supportive living, day programs like those at the Opportunity Centre, case management and training for teachers, police and others who may encounter people with brain injuries.

The government does spend millions of dollars on primary health care and rehabilitation, Kumpf said. But it can't end there.

"It's a lifelong debilitation and it needs lifelong support," said Rachel Sa, who is accompanying Kumpf on his provincewide tour.

An acquired brain injury is one caused by damage to the brain after birth. It could stem from a nontraumatic event, such as an aneurysm or infection, or from something traumatic such as an assault, a near-drowning or a crash.

It's been about 12 years since Dana King joined the club on a dark road near Walkerton.

A former forensics officer with the Ontario Provincial Police, King had taken a job with the Walkerton force to set up its identification unit. Used to working days, he'd switched to cover a night shift as a favour to a colleague.

A call came in. Neighbouring Hanover officers were chasing a stolen van and they were headed King's way.

He got his cruiser into position to try to stop the van with a rolling road block. The driver plowed into King's moving car from behind at 165 kilometres an hour and kept going.

Numerous hospital stays eventually healed most of King's injuries. But the worst, the damage to his brain, wasn't diagnosed for nearly a year.

"I didn't know what was happening to me," he said. He was saddled with a stutter so bad he wouldn't talk. He suffered from memory loss and could no longer count. Small tasks became insurmountable.

The stress took its toll on those closest to him. Friends stopped calling, his marriage dissolved. King, for a time, gave up.

But he fought back. Having relocated to Kitchener, King became a frequent visitor to the Opportunity Centre. Now 56, he recently moved to Stratford.

"With us, it's a lose-win," he said. "After we've lost everything, you get into a place like this and you win every day."

There are only four other facilities like the Opportunity Centre in Ontario, though. And more people become eligible for their services each day.

"The good news . . . is that we know what to do for people," Sa said. "The bad news is we really don't have enough for everyone with acquired brain injuries."

For more information on the alliance's campaign, visit www.see-us.ca.