'I want to be able to prevent any other injuries': Brain injury month on P.E.I.

June is Brain Injury Awareness month but for one Island man the cause is a year-round devotion.

Ken Murnaghan is executive director of the Brain Injury Association of PEI, and spends most of his time and energy workingto protect others from what happened to him.

That involves fundraising, running helmet-fitting workshops, or talking to people about the importance of helmet use, along with a number of events happening through this month.

"I received a brain injury from a bicycle accident 47 years ago now," he told Angela Walker on CBC Mainstreet. "In that time, there were no helmets. Basically I went through a living hell. I lost the first 10years of my life, I don't remember any of it. I had to start life all over again. What drives me is that I want to be able to prevent any other injuries. I don't want any child to have to go through what I had to go through."

The last few years have brought a lot of change to the Island.

"Not only in promoting helmet use in bicycling," said Murnaghan."Helmets are now mandatory on ski hills, and I think that's a big thing. Just helmet use in general. I remember when I started, probably 35 per cent of cyclists wore helmets. Now we're up to 96, 97 per cent of cyclists."

More to achieve

There are still important goals to achieve, along with more awareness, he said.

"I'd like to see some services created on P.E.I. for brain injury survivors. Come this October, we're going to be putting on our first brain injury workshop. We want to help educate and train professionals in the field."

Activities for the month start on Friday with a kick-off barbecue at the Charlottetown Fire Hall at 11:30 a.m.

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