Follow us: hu Improving life after brain injury Need to talk? 0808 800 2244 Donate Home About brain injury Individuals Brain injury and me Lucy O'Donovan Share your story Share your story with us to help others affected by brain injury Lucy O'Donovan When I finished the canvases I used to feel a certain satisfaction that I'd achieved something I have drawn and painted all my life. When I was little I loved nature and would spend my summer holidays painting the animals I saw as well as the pets I kept. I used watercolour until I was at Uni and took the plunge into oils, which became what I loved. Another of my passions is my fascination with the brain. This drove me into scientific research and whilst doing my PhD I read several books that made me see I could spend my time finding new things out about brain diseases. I researched schizophrenia in my home city of Glasgow for several years and then landed a position at University of Melbourne looking at brain injury and stroke. I will never get over the irony of what happened 11th September 2008. I was on a works night out and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) when I fell down a few small steps at a bar in Melbourne. I remember nothing about it which I think is a good thing. I was put in a medically induced coma, had the front half of my skull temporarily removed to allow swelling and was in hospital for three months. Over that time my Mum sitting at my bedside, taught me to speak, read and write again. I then went to the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre to live for a while and then attended daytime programs for various types of help. I came back to Glasgow in 2010 and have lived there ever since. Since my TBI I lost my career as a neuroscientist which was of course really upsetting as it was a passion of mine. However it left me lots of time to pick up a paintbrush and try to paint. The first thing I did was during art therapy, several months after my injury, where I painted a self portrait from a recent photo. The front of my hair was re-growing after surgery and I called it Rehab. It has taken a long time for me to be comfortable looking at it, as it reminded me of when I was in the beginning of recovery. When I returned to Glasgow though, I used to sit down and explore the colours and textures of the paint and try to copy photos as exactly as I could. That was because I damaged my eyes in my injury and I was scared I could no longer paint. I felt this was quite therapeutic. It helped me to concentrate entirely on one thing and get used to the rhythm - pick up paint with brush, apply to canvas, wipe brush on rag, pick up more paint... When I finished the canvases I used to feel a certain satisfaction that I'd achieved something. This meant a lot to me as I was unemployed at that point and felt as though I was unproductive and a little bit useless really. It made me realise too that my career had been very important to me and had played a large part in the self esteem. Visit www.lhodonovan.com to see more of Lucy's work, and find out about cRxeate, a new forum created by Lucy and a friend to help support and mentor doctors, dentists and vets in their creativity. Back to stories index Creative Expression: Lucy Pugh "Being told you’ll never be the same again is the hardest thing, I have many ways of dealing with my stress/ hurt and anger, one of them is doing some drawings!" Find out more Creative Expression: Mark and Jules Kennedy Here, Mark tells us how he has used creative works to help live with the effects of brain injury, and explains the life skills training programmes he runs in partnership with Jules. Find out more Creative expression Find out more Friends of Headway Individual membership Join/Renew Contact Us t: 0115 924 0800 e: enquiries@headway.org.uk Help us improve life after brain injury. Donate Improving life after brain injury 0808 800 2244 Call our free helpline 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday. Or email helpline@headway.org.uk Join our online Community 27k Likes 25k Followers 3k Subscribers Privacy policy Cookies Terms & Conditions Accessibility Contact Us Resource centre Find a Headway Approved care providers Charity shops Fundraising comments, feedback and complaints Vacancies Join our mailing list Headway - the brain injury association is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (Charity no. 1025852) and the Office of the Scottish Regulator (Charity no. SC 039992). Headway is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England no. 2346893. © Copyright Headway 2021 - Site designed and developed by MEDIAmaker By clicking 'Accept All Cookies’ you agree to the storing of cookies on your device. This will help us to offer the best possible experience and develop more of the information you need. Accept All Cookies Cookies Settings