Man who suffered brain injury to finish cross-country run
Posted December 6, 2011 5:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS1130) – A man from New Westminster has been running a marathon a day since April to raise awareness about brain injuries.
In 2005 David McGuire woke up in hospital, nine days after taking a simple bath. He says no one really knows what happened.
“That’s the last thing I remember,” he says. “So what we know, well, what happened was I either slipped and fell in the bathtub and hit my head causing my brain to bleed more, or my brain started to bleed causing me to lose consciousness.”
Frustrated with the lack of support for people recovering from brain trauma, the 38-year-old decided to take control.
McGuire began to run about 10 km a day, which he says was the only thing he could do on his own.
Fast forward six years and McGuire is on the last leg of a cross-country run to get people talking.
“To me it’s starting that conversation, like what seatbelts were like when we were kids. You didn’t legally have to wear seatbelts so it’s changing the dialogue to get it to the point where you buy a bike, you do the stuff, you have a helmet.
“It’s doing simple things,” McGuire stresses. “Like putting on a helmet or telling someone if you hit your head that will make all the difference.”
He plans to finish his run on Dec. 9 at Beacon Hill Park in Victoria.
Go to www.runtoremember.com for more information on his journey.
