Walking group helps Sask. brain injury survivors feel less alone

Nicholas Bogan looks forward to hitting the track for his weekly walk. It's a skill he doesn't take for granted. A car crash five years ago left him in a wheelchair with a traumatic brain injury, impacting mobility on the right side of his body, and he's had to relearn basic life skills. He credits a lot of his recovery to Brain Power Hour, a walking group for brain injury survivors. It's very nice to have a structured environment to come out and socialize, walk, and with peers, with people that are like me and have injuries like me and have similar struggles. It's a beautiful little community around that, and it's kind of nice. The rehabilitation process takes about three years. During this time, people like Marilyn Oaks have to relearn how to walk, talk, and eat by themselves. Oaks says the sessions are beneficial. It actually gets me out of the house and interacting with other people because before, I probably would have been just staying at home every day, all the time. The Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association started these sessions to connect people. After structured rehabilitation ends, brain injury survivors can sometimes find themselves alone for the rest of their recovery. So many of them end up in isolation after their brain injuries, and so this is a place where they feel like they belong. Walking, of course, is so important, and that helps with neuro as well. Brain Power Hour pairs university volunteers in health-related fields with a walking buddy. They learn from each other while developing friendships. Samantha Szeretski is in her last term of speech science and psychology. She's a former volunteer that's been hired to run Social Beans, another program where brain injury survivors meet for weekly coffee, crib, and conversations. I have learned how much perseverance they have, hearing everything they go through. Everyone's story is so different, so it's just awesome to see how they overcome that stuff. Participants ages range from 20 to 80 years old and everyone attending says the group has created a safe space for them. Helena Mihalik, CBC News, Saskatoon.