If, heaven forbid, a serious accident happened to your child, you would never want your son or daughter to be left, isolated in a nursing home for the rest of their life.

Nor would we!

Yet that is the fate of survivors of Severe Acquired Brain Injury (sABI) in Ireland. Even though research shows that ongoing intensive mental and physical exercise is the only reliable strategy for patients to regain function, the practice of neuro-rehabilitation is essentially ignored.  Limited beds in Ireland (3 to be precise), a year’s waiting list and a 3-month limit on rehabilitation essentially dictates the unfortunate outcome.  Even if parents want to pursue a strategy of home-care that could potentially provide such rehabilitation, they get little or no help to support it. Instead they go so far as to re-mortgage homes and rely on the charity of others so they can seek the necessary therapy in other countries that already provide what should be a basic right… what we would want and expect for any of our children.

AN SAOL

That is why the An Saol Foundation (An Saol is Irish for “Life”) was formed. We are the families, friends, and supporters of persons affected by a severe acquired brain injury. We are a voice for those whose injuries have seriously challenged their ability to advocate for themselves. We believe a policy of cost-effectively medicating and maintaining patients, rather than providing rehabilitation and a pathway for recovery is paramount to neglect… depriving them of any quality of life.

So we started An Saol, a non-profit charity, to raise awareness of the issues… and to raise funds for the An Saol Pilot Program. This pilot program will establish a day-care center for five survivors of sABI, offering an intensive and inclusive neurological rehabilitation program, informed by best international practice. We intend it to be the forerunner of other programs, and hopefully a state initiative, to provide quality services.  The total cost of the three-year program is estimated to be €1.5 million ($1.6 million USD) – including all facilities, equipment, trained therapists and support programs. This is in line with current costs to simply “maintain” patients in a nursing home.