Meet Brendon – Living with a spinal injury
INTRODUCTION
Brendon suffered a spinal injury. At the age of 13, he had an accident, that left permanent damage to his spinal cord. Brendon is now a permanent wheelchair user, paralysed from the chest down. After his rehabilitation, and discharge from hospital, his parents were his primary carers. Brendon told me that his parents sacrificed so much for him and for that, he will be eternally grateful. However, the more he grew, the more it became apparent he needed help to continue his growth into adulthood and beyond.
Before coming to Katherine Harriet for care and support, Brendon had used a few different care providers, who he states were very good, but after 23-years he finally found Katherine Harriet.
BACKGROUND
Brendon started his care journey with Katherine Harriet in 2017. Brendon lives with his wife, Erica and theirdog, Rab in Herefordshire. Brendon receives care every morning from his small team of Wellbeing Assistants who work along side his wife to ensure that Brendon is up and supported to get washed and dressed in time for him to attend work. Brendon is able to work from home in a full time position.
Brendon progressed through the education system with the support of his family, and graduated with a degree in Computer Science and has developed his career and currently holds a Senior Intelligence Analyst position with Crowd Strike, an industry leading cybersecurity company. Holding down this job and attending work on a daily basis would not be possible with the ongoing support of his family and Katherine Harriet.
WHAT CARE MEANS TO BRENDON
“To me, Katherine Harriet means love, support, kindness, but most of all, independence. Everyone at the company works together to create a bespoke care package and delivers care that, in my experience, is second to none. They work with my family and I to provide excellent service, without which I would struggle to maintain my working routine and do the other things that leave me feeling richly fulfilled.
Katherine Harriet enables me to live my life and ease the strain on my family. In fact, the WBA’s are an extension of my family, who turn up everyday to help me achieve everything I strive towards”
WHAT CARE BRENDON IS SUPPORTED WITH
Brendon receives support every morning from his ” highly skilled team of Wellbeing Assistants”, Katherine Harriet work alongside Brendon’s wife to ensure that he is supported with personal care, catheter care getting dressed and any other tasks that are required.
Brendon has, over the past four years, suffered with periods of poor Mental Health, he has continuously supported Mental Health charities such as Mind, organising fund raising events.
Brendon is a great ambassador of how you can overcome poor Mental Health and has supported other young men suffering with the same by sharing his story on his Facebook page turning his feelings into poems and sharing these with family and friends to see and share.
TESTIMONIAL
Over my four years with the company, Katherine Harriet has continuously developed my Care & Wellbeing Support Plan and customised my care around my needs. They continually look for the best solutions possible for me to do the things that are important to me. Katherine Harriet provides me with a brilliant and reliable care experience with support specialists I absolutely love. The team of Wellbeing Assistants that support me on a daily basis are exceptional and provide me with a solid platform on which I can build my life and continue to maintain my work routine and a healthy work-life balance.
