|
KCJ teams up with road safety charity to support local crash victims |
|
20 February 2008 |
An essential service for people seriously injured in road crashes in East Anglia has been launched by road safety charity Brake working in partnership with Kester Cunningham John Solicitors.
1,208 people are seriously injured and 175 more are killed every month on East Anglia's roads.
An essential service for people seriously injured in road crashes in East Anglia has been launched by road safety charity Brake working in partnership with Kester Cunningham John Solicitors.
1,208 people are seriously injured and 175 more are killed every month on East Anglia's roads. 82 people are seriously injured and 9 more are killed on UK roads every day .
Thanks to sponsorship from Kester Cunningham John, Brake has produced a comprehensive guide offering practical information and emotional support to people who have suffered a life-changing serious injury on the roads.
Advice for victims, families and friends following a serious injury in a road crash is a 72 page guide produced by Brake and distributed free to victims and their carers suffering life-changing injuries like severe burns, head injuries, loss of limbs and paralysis.
CASE STUDY
Tracey Ryder from Ipswich was seriously injured in a crash on the A14 in February 2004. Tracey was a passenger in a car which hit a crashed vehicle with its lights out. She suffered a fractured skull and a broken hip. As a result of her brain injury Tracey suffered memory loss, and immediately after the crash she could not even recognise her own family. Since the crash Tracey has experienced extreme fatigue, headaches and problems with her concentration. Tracey says: "It was very hard coping after the crash. I suffered physically and mentally but didn't really know where to turn for practical and emotional help. It was only when someone suggested I could get compensation that I really started to get things sorted with the help of my solicitor. You need the help to come to you. The Brake Serious Injury guide would have been invaluable to me."
The guide, distributed through Police Family Liaison Officers and hospital staff, is the only one of its kind, offering advice and support for people suffering sudden and violent injuries. Kester Cunningham Johns donation will enable Brake to make the guide free to professionals working with serious injury victims for two years in East Anglia.
The guide provides seriously injured road crash victims, their families and friends with practical advice about where to obtain further help and information on a range of procedural, practical and emotional issues. The guide includes:
- Introduction and contents
- Immediate concerns and practical issues
- Rehabilitation and recovery
- Coping with emotions and feelings
- Claiming money
- Criminal prosecutions
To view the guide in its entirety, please click on the 'more information' link below.
BrakeCare, Brake's division dedicated to supporting people bereaved and injured by road crashes, is the national provider of support literature for road crash victims. BrakeCare has been providing support to those affected by road crashes for 12 years through its telephone helpline (0845 603 8570) and literature. BrakeCare's guide for families bereaved in road crashes is handed out by police following every death on the road in the UK.
Inspector Paul Rush, Family Liaison Coordinator, Norfolk Police, says: "The serious injury guide is the only one of its kind and gives seriously injured road crash victims and their families a central point of contact for valuable and essential information and advice. Thank you!"
Tony Barrios, Casualty Reduction Officer for Cambridgeshire Police, says: "Since we've received the Serious Injury Guides, I've had lots of enthusiastic responses from Family Liaison Officers keen to get hold of them. When people suffer a serious injury in a crash, it can turn their lives upside down, and make day-to-day tasks a struggle, so this resource helps plug the void that used to exist. When you've been involved in a crash, every bit of support you can get is vital, and bringing it together in this way makes it easy for those affected and the police to use."
Hannah Rutterford, solicitor at Kester Cunningham John, says: "Kester Cunningham John sponsors Brake's Serious Injury Guide in East Anglia because without it seriously injured road crash victims and their families would often receive little specialist support or advice in the aftermath of a life changing injury. The guide is incredibly comprehensive and covers areas of immediate concern following the crash, but also focuses on the long term needs of the victim and their family. In my opinion it is one of the best care guides around."
Sarah Fatica, head of BrakeCare, says: "Brake works tirelessly to try to prevent road crashes through our education and campaigns work, but knows the importance of making resources like the serious injury guide available for those affected by them. We know that this guide will go a long way to helping people cope emotionally and practically through what is a traumatic time. I am so pleased that we can help people in East Anglia, thanks to the generous support of Kester Cunningham John."
|
|
