The Brain injury charity Headway South Lanarkshire is releasing an album called Still Here Fighting featuring local musicians and brain injury survivors to help raise awareness of what living with a brain injury means. The CD is the idea of James Restrick, a volunteer with Headway South Lanarkshire and an occupational therapist with South Lanarkshire Brain Injury Service.
James said: “The music really highlights that although people can go through one of the most devastating experiences of their life, they can still find the strength to keep going. The lyrics and songs are very optimistic and it has been great to see the quality of music which has been created.” Scott Burns donated his song ‘Still Here Fighting’. “He lives with the neurological condition Arnold-Chiari Malformation. It’s a condition where the base of the brain drops down into the top of the neck and affects the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. It’s as common as MS but is dreadfully under researched. Scott said “I think the creation of this CD is such a fantastic idea. I hope it will help other people in similar situations to me and will inspire more people to support Headway. “
Malcolm Torrance also contributed to the album. Malcolm sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury in 2006 when he was involved in a road accident. This left him with difficulties including memory impairment, mobility issues and dysarthria, which means he can have difficulty pronouncing certain words. He regularly attends his local Headway group and he jumped at the chance to write a song about living with a long term disability. He said: “This song gave me an opportunity to tell people about my condition and how it affects me. It also let me have a voice. “I’m proud of the end result and I play it to anyone who will listen!”
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Notes to Editors.
Still Here Fighting will be launched on Thursday 21st November at The Burnbank Centre, Hamilton. There will be live music at the launch provided by artists on the album and the Scottish Head Injury Music Group. The show begins at 6:30pm and will last until 8:30pm. Entry is free.
Thompsons Solicitors Scotland who support the work of Headway South Lanarkshire have sponsored production of the album. CDs will be on sale at the concert and cost £5. The album can also be downloaded from iTunes.
For further information or if you would like to send a reporter to the concert please call Peter Henderson at Thompsons on 07887 687 318
