A woman who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was just 17 is encouraging people not to give up. Catherine Train, 31, was left with a life-changing injury after an accident in 2010. Her father died in the same accident and Catherine, who was doing her A-Levels at BHASVIC college, was not expected to survive.
READ MORE: Brighton woman launches fundraiser to start family through IVF She said: "I was not expected to survive the accident and if I did, I would be left severely disabled. "But I proved everyone wrong with sheer grit and determination. I have gone on to live a fulfilling life and regain much of my independence with support from my family and my team of buddies.
" During her recovery, Catherine struggled to move and ended up weighing over 15 stone. She joined Slimming World and a gym despite the struggles to exercise post-accident. Catherine, who has since lost over five stone, also took up swimming lessons to aid her fitness and recovery.
She said: "I love my swimming and was very determined to succeed. She is now set to do a charity swim to raise money for Headway Sussex (Image: Headway Sussex) "I have gradually got better and can now do three different strokes. I still have lessons as I would like to be even better.
"I struggle at times to coordinate everything, but I try really hard." The 31-year-old is now using her swimming passion to raise money for Headway Sussex, a charity that supports people from across the county who have suffered a brain injury. Catherine will be swimming 1 kilometre to raise funds for the charity.
Donations can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/page/catherine-train-1722258875793.
She said: "Headway has been a great support since I had my brain injury, and I would like to raise some money for them by doing a sponsored swim. "I plan to swim 1km over the course of a month as this is achievable for me." The charity aims to support individuals and their families by offering a range of support services.
This includes rehabilitation programmes, support groups, helplines, hospital liaison services and counselling aid. So far, over Catherine has raised £650 for the charity..
