Staff in Derry vet clinic to give back with a charity skydive

Veterinary Nurses Grainne Turton, Emily McClelland and Veterinary Surgeon Grace O'Keeffe will take to the skies on Sunday, April 2 to give back to a team that supported their colleague Katie Keys after she suffered a brain injury.

Katie explained: “I was in a road traffic accident in 2019, where I sustained a brain injury. I was in hospital in Dublin for a while and then I was in Altnagelvin before I was transferred to Spruce House, now the North West Centre for Neurological Rehabilitation. I couldn’t walk when I first got there so I had to start everything from scratch again after the accident; I had to do my driving test again and I’m only able to work part time now. It’s crazy to think that they didn’t know if I was going to live at the beginning and, even if I did, they didn’t know to what extent the brain damage would be, whether I would walk again or ever return to work.”

Katie says her work colleagues were with her every step of the way through her recovery and eventual return to work.

“I have had so much support from my team and the girls in here have been amazing. I don’t remember my time in hospital but I do remember when my mum was coming in to visit me and brought a basket that the girls here made for me of all my favourite things. I couldn’t text but I would sometimes send voice notes to them so I could keep in touch. I remember one of them had sent a picture of her being stuck behind a tractor on a road and I remember saying ‘God I can’t wait to be stuck behind a tractor again! I wish that was my biggest problem right now’. I missed them all so much and a few of them made me picture albums of all the girls at work with all their pets and I just couldn’t wait to get back to work.”

Emily said: “My parents live just down the road from Katie’s mum and dad so I knew her family before I actually knew Katie. Our head nurse phoned every one of us individually to tell us that Katie had been in a bad accident in the Letterkenny direction and that she was in a coma in hospital in Dublin. We started a Whatsapp group so Katie’s mum and dad could keep in touch with myself, Sharon and Grace and we could keep everyone updated."

"I had never seen the chat before,” said Katie. “And then I read it one day with one of the girls. I cried my eyes out reading all the things the girls had been saying because I don’t remember most of the things that happened. It was so strange to think that that was me, it felt like they were talking about somebody else."

The Community Brain Injury Team provide a rehabilitation service including assessment, treatment and training to adults with an acquired brain injury, their families and carers. They work with people affected by brain injury to help them understand and compensate for difficulties following brain injury such as reduced memory, fatigue, difficulties getting back to work, and personality changes. The team supported Katie with her return to work, adapting the clinic to fit her needs.

"They came and assessed the building and installed handrails in different places,” she said. “As well as giving me a special chair that supports my back and my neck. When I was first back, they limited the times I was going up and down the stairs and put other things in place to help me.I remember one of the vets at the time saying that if I did need an office downstairs that they would do that for me. I also work from home two days a week which limits my time driving. I have got quite bad PTSD so I struggle with driving sometimes but they’re so accommodating, it’s amazing. The team here in the clinic are all so supportive so it’s a mixture of the support I’ve gotten here and the support from the brain injury team that has kept me going.

“The Community Brain Injury Team have supported me to live my life how I want to, make choices about what’s important to me and enabled me to prioritise the use of my time, energy and skills. They have empowered me to be as independent as possible, by ensuring I have the appropriate equipment , environment, strategies and support. They have also provided tools to help my family and my colleagues cope with this trauma.”

Katie’s colleagues decided to give back to the team that enabled her to return to work by doing a charity skydive with Skydive Ireland in Garvagh on April 2.

Emily said: "Katie was missed so much and it was such a long time between her recovery and her returning to work so we’re so glad to have her back now.

“The other girls are a bit nervous for the skydive but this is my fifth or sixth skydive so I’m quite excited for it!”

“It’s so nice that they’re doing this,” Katie said. “I can’t wait to go watch them do it, although I don’t know if I’ll actually be able to watch them jump – I might have to look the other way!”

To support the skydive in aid of the Community Brain Injury Team, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/drumahoevets-cbisskydive?utm_term=nxNkqVWVW