Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) affects 36,000 New Zealanders a year, (ACC 2018). Twenty percent of these happen through recreation or playing sport. Only 14,000 receive treatment. Some are missed at the time of injury, where they are unrecognised as such.
For women recovery from Traumatic Brain Injury takes much longer. The resulting Post Concussion Syndrome is individual for each woman. The journey towards ‘Healing your brain’, can directly benefit from sleep & rest foremost, followed by any or all of the following…
Nature, quietness, art, yoga, exercise, meditation, counselling and social support are but a start to the many areas of life that can be explored in order to assist in recovery.
These are hindered by life’s continuing economic demands, environmental practicalities and physical pain. A tender balance exists for up to ten years to recover and understand which of these is needed and when.
Symptoms other than physical pain such as from headaches and trauma wounds include, tiredness, vision and hearing problems, poor concentration, anxiety, depression and memory loss.
From discussions on recovery the author has noted that its not a return to oneself that the women were realising was achievable but to some return to a person who had journeyed through this traumatic and difficult time to a place they could heal.
These places we visit to heal. How do we absorb their energy and let nature teach us to move and think again. To make sense of it all -Life- this project was born.
This current photographic works look at ‘Recovery from Traumatic Brain Injury’ of three New Zealand sportswomen. In this sensitively timed trio of stories Emma Westwood presents the first photographic narrative of Paige Paterson describing through images the process of one young woman who has taken her love of life and movement and links this metaphorically with nature through wind, flowing water and mountainscapes.
For bookings and portrait work in nature please email emmawestwoodphotography@gmail.com