James tells his story of surviving a traumatic brain injury

James Piercy will be joined at the talk by Professor Huw Williams of Psychology to discuss the wider impacts of brain injury on society.

James was involved in a serious road traffic accident in January 2011 when a nail punctured the tyre of the car he was travelling in, causing it to leave the road and hit a tree at around 50 mph. As well as a fractured rib and scarred spleen and kidney, he suffered a severe injury to his brain and spent nearly two months in hospital.  

He will be telling his story and hopes that others can learn from his difficult experience. He said: “My head injury was classed as ‘very severe’ and my recovery has been described as 'phenomenal’ – I owe my life to a lot of people, some great science and more than a little luck.”

James will take the audience on a journey which promises to be funny, shocking and sometimes emotional. There will also be a chance to find out about the monitoring and treatment of head injury, discussion of how much we really know about our brains and the impact of this 'hidden disability'.

Professor Williams is a neuropsychologist who works on projects to improve neurorehabilitation for people with brain injury. He will give an overview of the challenges faced by people with TBI, and the need for better services to support them.

The talk, entitled “What’s going on in his head?” will be taking place from 4 – 6pm, Wednesday 4th February in Room 219, Washington Singer Building, University of Exeter, EX4 4QG.

Those wishing to attend must book a place through Chloe Hayward by contacting info@ukabif.org.uk or 0845 6080788.

James Piercy works for the Cardiff-based science communication company Science Made Simple Ltd and developed the talk as a way of getting back to work. He has received support from the Wellcome Trust.

The event has been planned with the advice and support of three leading brain injury charities: The United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF), The Brain Injury Social Work Group (BISWG) and Headway, the national brain injury association.