After a night out, the group took fish and chips to a local beauty spot, cliffs at Rougey, when Tony accidentally walked over the side of a forty foot cliff. He was taken by ambulance to Sligo General Hospital where he was diagnosed as having severe damage to his brain. He was airlifted to Beaumont Hospital Neurosurgery unit in Dublin where he remained in a coma for ten days. When he came out of the coma his doctors said he would need a pro-longed period of recovery and rehabilitation, and they arranged for him to be taken to Daisyhill hospital in Newry. He was an inpatient there for over two months and an outpatient at both Beaumont and DaisyhIll for the next three years.
“When I came home from hospital I had to be taught to speak, eat, walk all over again. I sustained severe memory loss and to this day, 32 years later, I still have major issues with my memory. Other challenges I face mainly relate to cognitive skills damage such as concentration, planning, organising and managing my emotions, particularly coping with my frustration.”
In many ways Tony has made a miraculous recovery. He is physically very fit thanks to the help he has received from doctors, physios and the staff at Newry Sports Centre which he attends four times a week.
He had his licence restored and is a very careful driver. Tony lives semi-independently in an apartment which is within his parent’s home. Because of his brain injury he had to give up his career and remains unable to work.
To help address Tony’s loneliness, his parents, Frank and Aileen, founded the Brain Injury Foundation as a support group for brain injury survivors and their carers.
“I am a regular attender at social activities and a very proud member of the award winning pool team. I like to claim that the Foundation would not exist if it had not been for me. I really enjoy BIF and have made many friends. Winning the pool league especially has given a boost to my self-confidence but my dearest wish is to find a soulmate.”