Life-changing injuries
Recovering and establishing a new identity after injury or acquired disability
The many changes that people we talked with experienced after injury often led to them feeling like their identity changed. As Sam said, 'Your identity’s been dismantled. You have to work out who you are again and feel confident in being like that'.
This feeling could be distressing for people. Brian said he felt upset because 'the person you were before is gone; they’ll always be gone'. It was often also difficult for the people around them to accept their changed identity.
After his injury, Adrian explained to a friend that he wasn't the same person as before. He told him the old Adrian had died.
After his injury, Adrian explained to a friend that he wasn't the same person as before. He told him the old Adrian had died.
Coming to terms with a 'changed self'
For some, an important part of recovery involved accepting and coming to terms with their 'changed selves' and finding ways of managing the challenges they faced.
Christopher said he didn’t want to be 'that individual that’s got a brain injury. I want to be me'.
Elcena said it was 'a different kettle of fish' becoming disabled as an adult rather than being born disabled, while Brian described the experience as 'weird'.
People thought that perhaps they were idealising the person they were before (Amy) or were viewing themselves 'looking at the past through rose-coloured spectacles' (Christopher).
As part of accepting her brain injury, Amy held a funeral for her old self because she wanted to move forward.
As part of accepting her brain injury, Amy held a funeral for her old self because she wanted to move forward.
And to persevere – I think when people have been severely injured whether it's you know neck, brain, spine, hips whatever you can get an idealised picture of what you think you were and that old person becomes a big hero and the new person becomes like, why am I even here on this earth and I advise people to do what I did, is I had a funeral for my old self on the inside and I said goodbye she's never coming back, just said goodbye and I'll build again. Because life is not necessarily what you expect, it's not what you planned but life is what you make it, you know you can produce your own show as a you go along and unexpected things happen and it's not so much what happens to you but it's how you're able to respond to the things that happen to you that will make the difference in how your life turns out. For instance, the things that happened to me I wouldn't have wished them on anyone but in the end I met absolutely phenomenal people. I ended up doing things I never thought I would be doing.
People’s identities were also changed by the things they were no longer able to do such as going back to work or helping out around the house.
Bill said that after his injury he felt life 'wasn’t your own, even at home'. He stopped carrying money and keys after his injury because everything was being done for him, and he felt he didn’t need to.
Recovery after injury and with acquired disability
People were determined to recover as best they could. This 'grit and determination' (Jack) was something they felt they always had but didn’t know its full extent until they were challenged by injury.
Setting realistic goals and targets, repeatedly practicing things, forcing themselves to do things they found difficult, persevering, and maintaining hope were important for people during recovery.
Dave feels that his life is normal now, it’s just a question of adjusting to his limitations.
Dave feels that his life is normal now, it’s just a question of adjusting to his limitations.
I guess my life now is normal as I see it. You quickly adapt to a new situation and certainly over time as the years go by it becomes normal. And the fact that, you know, you use a catheter is just normal and the fact that I use a wheelchair is normal. I get up and, you know, the wheelchair is my way of getting about and I’ll go off to various meetings and, and work and, you know, come back at the end of the day and sit on the sofa and have a shower like anyone else. It’s just I guess different ways of doing, doing things. And I think certainly it’s difficult to get used to having to have help on, on certain things, having someone around. That has impact not only on me but, you know, your close family. Having somebody around to help do things slightly alters, you know, your domestic set-up. And, you know, there are frustrations with, you know, not being able to partake in the sports or certain things that I used to do before. But there are, you know, new options of things to do and ways to exercise. And, you know, going on holiday becomes more difficult, but you just have to check that where you’re going has suitable access. And provided you’re fairly adaptable and, and healthy you can, you know, get round most things. So, yes, it’s difficult and there are frustrations along the way. But you realise that there are, many people have different limitations in different ways and there are always going to be limitations, and unfortunately some of mine are more severe than, than most people. But you end up in a situation where your life is what your life is. And you know what you’re doing and, you know, you settle back into a routine. And that’s, you know, how things develop.
Ed went on a retreat after his injury. He found meditating, and improving his fitness and diet helped.
Ed went on a retreat after his injury. He found meditating, and improving his fitness and diet helped.
Some people felt they had recovered and were back to being who they were before injury. Returning to doing the things they did before injury was often seen as a marker of recovery.
Barrie got back into singing, which had always been a big part of his life before the injury. Others were still trying to recover, even those whose injuries had happened more than 10 years before.
Some felt they were unlikely to get any better or regain any skills that had not returned at the stage they were at, but others were more positive. Adrian said he was still finding out new things about himself and new ways in which to manage the effects of his injuries 11 years on.
People spent various amounts of time recovering from physical, mental, and emotional effects of the life-changing injuries they sustained and from the treatments they received for them.
Recovery was often described as a frustrating process; Nick Z said that things usually got worse before they got better.
People often compared themselves to others who had sustained similar life-changing injuries. Amy felt this comparison was unhelpful, but some people found it useful.
Knowing others who were more severely affected by their injuries made Adrian feel grateful because he wasn’t as badly affected as they were.
Simon A had short-term memory problems after brain injury. He read and re-read 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' which helped him develop a positive attitude to recovery.
Simon A had short-term memory problems after brain injury. He read and re-read 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' which helped him develop a positive attitude to recovery.
Support and care in recovery
Sometimes people’s prognosis immediately after injury was 'gloomy' (Simon A) or their injuries were so severe that their families were warned they might die.
Health and social care professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and psychologists were instrumental in helping with people’s recovery.
After his elective amputation Ambrose was put on a fixed care pathway, which meant he had a planned route for rehabilitation after his amputation. He felt this sped up his recovery.
After his elective amputation Ambrose was put on a fixed care pathway, which meant he had a planned route for rehabilitation after his amputation. He felt this sped up his recovery.
And as it’s turned out it was the most appropriate thing to be done, because as I said nine weeks afterwards you know, back at home, perfectly fine, can put the new leg on, go out for a walk with the crutches. It’s healing well, you know, and everybody is very pleased with the progress, because as I said earlier, of having this very fixed care pathway – you do that, and you do that, then you do that. I wasn’t, you know, I was expecting to take a bit longer knowing older, lots of surgery that potentially would take a bit longer, but as it’s turned out I’ve actually sort of stayed on the milestones of the care pathway, you know, of out in the chair that day, first physio that day, first leg casting at three weeks, wearing it at four weeks, checked. And so I’ve actually gone along very well, and as I said last week when I saw the consultants, you know, they gathered everybody together again to actually look at it, what it looked like afterwards and they were saying, “Well yes, that was the right decision” because, you know, I’m taking now a quarter of the painkillers that I was and most of those are actually on reducing doses, you know, a planned reduction down to the aim of being back for, you know, paracetamol now and then for the leg obviously the rest of my body’s aches and pains aren’t relevant, but, you know, specifically for that it’s going really, really well.
Further treatments or operations after injury sometimes gave people hope. Bryan felt that recovery from his 2 brain injuries and hearing loss started when he was offered an operation to improve his hearing.
Part of Daniel’s skull was removed after his brain injury. He was excited to return to hospital to have a titanium plate fitted to replace the missing bone. Unfortunately, he began to have seizures soon after.
Part of Daniel’s skull was removed after his brain injury. He was excited to return to hospital to have a titanium plate fitted to replace the missing bone. Unfortunately, he began to have seizures soon after.
Families also played a significant role in recovery. Raymond said he was motivated to do his best to recover for his loved ones. Marina said that what her son Daniel had to do seemed daunting at first but he made a remarkable recovery.
Some people felt isolated and didn’t seem to have the support they needed from their family. Jane felt that her family didn’t understand her brain injury because her father previously had a more severe brain injury.
Views of life after injury and recovery
Life after injury usually involves quite a lot of uncertainty. People didn’t know how long it would take to recover, what recovery would take, or if they would recover at all.
Health and social care professionals usually couldn’t accurately predict outcomes for people, but sometimes estimated the length of people’s recovery, which varied from a few months to several years. Kenneth was told he might struggle for years, which he found a 'scary prospect'.
It took about 10 years for Simon A to feel he had recovered, but he thinks this is a short time in the context of brain injury.
It took about 10 years for Simon A to feel he had recovered, but he thinks this is a short time in the context of brain injury.
Ed's friend also had a serious injury and advised him recovery would take at least six months, which her husband likened to the length of time it takes to buy a house. He said James Cracknell also needed six months to begin to recover.
Ed's friend also had a serious injury and advised him recovery would take at least six months, which her husband likened to the length of time it takes to buy a house. He said James Cracknell also needed six months to begin to recover.
Even though people usually wanted to get better and get their lives 'back to normal' as quickly as possible (Wesley), some would never completely recover because the effects of their injury were permanent. Thus, having a long period in which to come to terms with injuries and changed life was seen by some as a positive.
Simon B thinks emotionally adjusting to injury takes a long time, so a prolonged period of recovery can be beneficial in this way.
Simon B thinks emotionally adjusting to injury takes a long time, so a prolonged period of recovery can be beneficial in this way.
People said that initially they progressed rapidly in their recovery and then it slowed down or reached a plateau.
John said things fell into place slowly and Dave said that every little achievement was welcomed along the way. When they were feeling frustrated, it was important for people to remind themselves of how far they’d come.
Immediately after injury, some people realised the 'monumental task' (Jack) that was ahead of them.
However, after brain injury, people can lack awareness and insight, which means they may not understand the extent of the effects of their injury. Even when they gained insight and realised what had happened to them, people were still sometimes reluctant to accept their new impairments.
When Raymond became aware of how his brain injury was affecting him, he said he struggled to accept this. It took time to accept he was a different person.
When Raymond became aware of how his brain injury was affecting him, he said he struggled to accept this. It took time to accept he was a different person.
See also ‘Body image and disability’.
Last reviewed: August 2025.
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