News • 07 Dec 2021

Client with acquired brain injury wins family trampoline

Danielle, a client of Open Minds with an acquired brain injury, recently won the Open Minds 2021 Vuly Trampoline competition and will be sharing her prize with her family.

During 2021, Open Minds was proud to partner with Vuly to run a competition to give away a free Vuly Trampoline to an Open Minds client.

The prize up for grabs was a Medium Vuly Ultra Trampoline and shade cover (valued at $1,258!) and included free shipping.

Danielle has been a client of Open Minds for 3 years. Her mother, Susette, said: “I am delighted that we have have won the trampoline. My granddaughter (Danielle’s daughter), Lily*, is going to get hours of fun from this, and Danielle will get enjoyment from watching her play!”

Caydon Sanders, Strategic Partnership Manager at Vuly, said: “It’s wonderful to see this trampoline go to a family who truly need and deserve it. I can see it’s going to create lots of smiles!”

Danielle became a client of Open Minds in 2018 after she was involved in a motor vehicle accident and acquired a brain injury.

The accident happened in 2016, and Danielle spent 19 months in hospital relearning how to speak, eat, walk, name objects, people and places.

Danielle then moved in with her mother, Susette, and father, Shane, along with Lily (now 10 years of age), and chose Open Minds as her support provider.

Susette said: “Life can change in the blink of an eye. So having quality support for Dan is vital. Not only did we need help to assist her to continue on her journey to recovery, she needed help to assist her to meet her personal goal of being a mum to Lily again. Open Minds were and continue to be, forthcoming with the flexible support needed for Dan’s complex needs to be met, to help her achieve her physical and personal goals and to help us as a family unit to keep our heads above water. Open Minds staff often go above and beyond to provide safe effective care and support for Danielle, so much so we trust them implicitly. Without their caring approach, their diligence in helping Dan with therapies and their kind acceptance of Dan, Lily and our family, life in our household would be far less enjoyable.”

Danielle currently receives 9 hours of support from Open Minds per day, 5 days per week. Her supports are funded through insurance and enable Danielle to have assistance with all her daily living activities.

Danielle is a wheelchair user and her major goal for 2021 was building up the strength to walk into her sister’s wedding, who she was maid of honour for.

Not only did she achieve this goal, but she also stood up for most of the joyous day, which was another huge milestone.

Since Danielle’s accident, Susette and Shane begun volunteering with STEPS – a free initiative through ABIOS run by Queensland Health, designed to help those with acquired brain injuries to form social connections.

Furthermore, Susette and Shane also enrolled Lily with Little Dreamers – a young carer organisation that provides support for children with a family member with a disability.

Susette said: “Both STEPS and Little Dreamers provide incredible benefits for those with an acquired brain injury, and their families. I would recommend that any other individuals or families going through something similar, should reach out to these amazing organisations for assistance.”

*Name changed to protect identity of a minor.

Contact STEPS

STEPS creates opportunities for social connection for those with acquired brain injuries, through peer support.

Criteria to join are that participants must be aged 18 – 65, and have experienced a brain injury as an adult. Participants can either attend on their own or bring a support person with them.

Find out more about how STEPS can help you, by calling the team on (07) 3176 9506 or email on [email protected].

Contact Little Dreamers

Support for young carers aged 4 – 25 who have a family member with a disability. 

Find out how Little Dreamers can help a child you know, contact the team on 1800 717 515

Contact Vuly

We are extremely grateful for the donation of this trampoline from Vuly, enabling us to pass something special onto a well-deserving family. See Vuly’s full range of trampolines here – did you know they also stock handy items such as a beach trolly?

Contact Open Minds

Find out more about the support we can provide to those with an acquired brain injury, contact us today on 1300 673 664.

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