In January 2003 I had decided to take a break from playing water polo and to give triathlon a try. I graduated from university the previous year and a couple of friends and I cycled from Vancouver to St. John’s. Through that experience, my interest in cycling grew.

On August 1, 2003, while cycling in Victoria, BC I slammed into a tree head- (and helmet) first. During the summer of 2003, 4 (or sometimes 3) friends and I would cycle on Fridays for 2 or 3 hours and on that particular Friday we had chosen a route that took us close to Victoria General Hospital. I don’t remember too much from that day, but when I returned to Victoria a friend drove me to see the the tree that I hit with my head (I was wearing a helmet and worked. If it didn’t work I wouldn’t be writing this). I had a severe traumatic brain injury.

I awoke from my coma two weeks later, unable to walk and barely audible. After I was flown back to my home in St. John’s, NL, I spent two years working with incredible doctors and rehabilitation therapists. I know first-hand how tough recovering from a brain injury can be. However, I was lucky…all things considered. I was lucky to have met incredible, not to mention inspiring, people and rehabilitation therapists.  I was also very fortunate to keep my personality and have only some mobility affected.

Every brain injury is different and my experience is not felt by others who have been injured, just as I cannot truly understand what others have gone through. However, fatigue seems to be very common and difficult to describe. It’s not the same feeling as not getting enough sleep, neither is it the same tiredness I felt after completing a triathlon, water polo game or day on my bike. Granted the fatigue after each of those activities is different in its own right. But this type of fatigue is as if the body and mind are strangely intertwined. Thinking makes the body tired and moving makes the mind tired. Of course, that could also be from my own mobility issues resulting from my brain injury. Although fatigue is an important and ever-present part of my life, it is not nearly as influential in my life as it can be. For some people the fatigue can be debilitating. Again, this is an area where I was lucky and haven’t had to battle it as many people.