How a Severe Brain Injury Changed His Life

Nothing ruffles my feathers like someone trying to squash another person’s dreams.

“You’ll never run again”
“You’re just not cut out for …. “
“You’ll always struggle with…”

Take Keiran Behan’s story, as an example:

When he was 10, he found out he had cancer in his leg. Doctors removed the tumor but botched the procedure – causing major nerve damage. But this little boy had BIG dreams to become an Olympic gymnast. Doctors shook their heads and told him he’d never walk again.

I had to see a psychiatrist who said you have to accept the worst.
But that just drove me on; I wanted to prove them wrong.
They were saying it was over but I wasn’t having it.
-Keiran Behan
 
So he worked at his rehab, relearned how to walk, and 15 months later he was back on his feet in the gym. But a couple months later, he slips from the high bar and hits his head – causing severe brain damage.

He’d have blackouts from the slightest movements. Sometimes just a blink made him pass out. He missed an entire year of school to recover.

So he had to relearn to walk again, retrain his brain and his coordination. Once again the doctors told him his athletic career was over.

But he wasn’t giving up.

He spent hours retraining his brain and hand-eye coordination by chucking a ball against a wall and catching it. Then he worked his way to using a walking stick. Finally, after three years of constant training his athletic skills returned. 

In 2010, after years of training, he qualified for the European Championships, but ruptures his knee (ACL) during practice. This time he almost threw in the towel.

It was the nearest I ever came to quitting.
Sheer despair really but I’d been through a lot worse and knew that,
whatever happened, I could always come back.
-Keiran Behan
 
And just like before, he bounced back.

He spent 9 months rehabbing his knee. Then in 2011 he stood victorious as he qualified for the 2012 London Olympics.

Never giving in.
Daring to really go for it.
Keeping the flame alive.

Even if your goals aren’t Olympic in nature, we can ALL adopt this Olympic Spirit:

A lot of setbacks and hard times, it's molded me as a person and it's made me stronger.
If people can get hold of my story and be inspired by it. Everyone goes through their own
difficulties and their own obstacles in their everyday lives.
-Keiran Behan