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A Run to Remember – brain injury awareness event

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Brain injury survivor David McGuire is running a marathon a day across Canada to raise awareness of brain injury.

The New Westminister native sustained a brain injury in 2005 and, although he was told that he may never walk again, David completed his first marathon a year after his injury. Determined to raise awareness of brain injury and brain injury prevention, on April 1st 2011 David began A Run to Remember – an epic, 7 month run across Canada.

“I am not an athlete… I am not a rock star…or the relative of a famous person. I am just a guy with a brain injury – like so many others – but I can run, and I have a story to tell…Some may call me crazy but I am trying to get people talking about brain injury… This run will bring awareness and understanding to the issue of brain injury…”

David is currently making his way through Quebec and will finish in Victoria, BC this October. To find out more about this amazing journey and to track David’s progress visit run to remember.com.

Read a 3 page article on David’s journey from sustaining brain injury to running across Canada in Headline Magazine’s summer edition.

Follow David’s blog: http://r2rcanada.blogspot.com

ThinkFirst Canada combatting head injury in sport

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The issue of head injuries in sport has exploded onto the Canadian scene in 2011. The media frenzy caused by the National Hockey League’s biggest star, Sidney Crosby, falling victim to serious concussions grew with the deaths of former NHL and NFL players who suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head. Whether sports fans or not, Canadians have clearly heard the message that it’s time to address the serious issue of head injury in sports.

One Canadian organization is doing its part to raise awareness of such sport-related injuries and to educate people on injury prevention. ThinkFirst, founded by renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Tator, is a national non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of brain and spinal cord injuries. ThinkFirst has tremendous online resources on safety prevention and, with the help of some well-known hockey players, has recently launched a ‘Smart Hockey’ campaign to educate the public on the symptoms and severity of concussions, particularly in reference to injury prevention in ice hockey.

In addition to their online presence at www.thinkfirst.ca, ThinkFirst has 19 Chapters across Canada, including one in Vancouver. These chapters spread ThinkFirst’s injury prevention messages through school and community presentations with the help of a dedicated group of injury survivors who share their own powerful stories.