Attacks survivor praises 'amazing' brain injury charity
BBCA Nottingham attacks survivor who was left with no memory of his life before the tragedy has praised a brain injury charity for its "amazing" support.
Wayne Birkett, 63, was struck by a van driven by triple killer Valdo Calocane - who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia - on 13 June 2023, leaving him with a complex brain injury.
He reluctantly sought support last year from the charity Headway Nottingham, but said he was now "so glad" he had.
On Saturday, Birkett joined friends to mark 30 years of Headway Nottingham and called for more funding for the charity to ensure it could continue helping people like him.
Birkett was one of three survivors of the Nottingham attacks carried out by Calocane, who stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates.
He spent months in hospital, was left with no memory of his life before the attacks and had to re-learn basic skills such as reading and holding a knife and fork.
Last year, his solicitor, Greg Almond, encouraged Birkett to attend Headway Nottingham's day centre in Old Basford.
"I didn't want to come," he told the BBC.
Speaking about his first visit, he said: "[I was] nervous, I didn't want to talk to anybody, and when I left I wasn't sure whether I was coming back or not. I'm glad I did."
The charity, established by a group who founded the national Headway charity, which it is affiliated with, supports hundreds of people in Nottingham and the wider county who have suffered brain injuries.
Birkett said: "It's amazing because you're here with people with the same injuries.
"You talk to them about how they got through life, they ask me about how I get through life, and you get lots of help from all the staff here. It's pretty amazing.
"You walk out of here in a better mood than you come in."
Birkett said the charity, which relies on donations, needed continued funding.
He added: "I don't see this as a 30th birthday, it's 30 years of helping people and [the charity] needs support."
Liz Bennett suffered a brain injury in 2022.
Like many with brain injuries, she had no visible injury and said she had been left feeling "very alone and very frightened" until she was referred to Headway Nottingham.
"It was like a light had suddenly shone on me that I felt," she said.
"I understood and I didn't get the person I was before back, but I got something just as precious, which was people who understood, people who I didn't have to explain myself to, people who helped me get out of a really dark place that I was in."
She said she hoped the charity would still be running in another 30 years.
"It probably saved my life," Bennett added.
Charlotte Leask, chief executive of the charity, said the day centre was open four days a week and offered workshops and activities to help people adjust to life post-brain injury.
"[We help] find their confidence again, realise that they still have value and that they can still aspire, achieve, and live a life that is not solely defined by their disability."
According to Leask, a person is admitted to hospital with a brain injury every 90 seconds.
"Quite a lot of them will end up with permanent and complex disability afterwards, and quite often it's invisible," she said.
Leask added the support from the charity was "the difference between a life feeling scared and isolated and a life that involves hope and happiness".
She said: "This community we've built over the last 30 years has helped hundreds of people feel accepted for exactly who they are, and understood without any kind of judgement, and that's what they need from us.
"And they've found each other so they help each other along the way."
The charity is currently working in partnership with the neurotrauma service at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, offering support to patients with brain injuries at "the earliest point".
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