HASLEMERE volunteer Arlette Foster has been shortlisted for a national award for her work for brain injury charity Headway.

Arlette, 70, has spent the past 15 years supporting Headway, after her son Philip sustained a brain injury in a serious car accident.

She is one of two other finalists chosen from across the UK to be in the running for the title of Volunteer of the Year at Headway’sawrads ceremony, which will be held at The Dorchester Hotel tomorrow night.

Arlette was inspired to set up Headway East Sussex hospital liaison service to help others going through a similar experience after finding she had no-one to turn to.

It was 23 years ago when her daughter, then aged 17, woke her at 3am to tell her that her older brother had been involved in a serious car accident, while out celebrating his 21st birthday with friends.

The car he was travelling in hit a tree and he was thrown from it, suffering a brain injury that was so severe, he was put into an induced coma and his family were warned there was little hope of survival.

Thankfully Philip did survive, and with the help of his family, who played a very active role in his rehabilitation, he learnt to walk and talk again.

In fact he made an excellent physical recovery which the medical team described as “miraculous”.

However, he wasn’t the same young man when he returned home. He had suffered extensive frontal lobe damage and had changed from a bright, happy, fun-loving 21-year-old into an aggressive young man, who had difficulty controlling his anger, because of cognitive functioning difficulties.

“It was a very difficult time as we had no-one to turn to and the medical staff didn’t understand as they informed me they were not trained in problems faced by sufferers and carers of brain injury,” she said.

“He was just discharged from hospital and we had to get on with it. The services to help families like ours were just not around back then. That’s why, when I discovered Headway East Sussex, I knew I wanted to help them to make sure families didn’t go through what we did.

“I wanted to change a negative experience into something positive – by using the understanding that I’ve gained.

“It’s lovely to be nominated for the award but what makes me really happy is to be able to play my part at Headway East Sussex and use what happened to me to help others going through a similar thing.”

Headway East Sussex’s hospital liaison service team operates a weekly drop-in clinic at Princess Royal Hospital to support brain injury survivors and their families.

A qualified counsellor and psychotherapist, Arlette has also been trained to deliver Headway East Sussex’s hero’s journey programme to develop coping strategies to manage their symptoms.

The sessions have been a tremendous success with attendees reporting they had a better knowledge of their injury and a better understanding of their feelings and behaviours.

She is also a qualified art therapist and has put her skills to use at the charity’s art group.

Former colleague Michelle Fleming, who nominated Arlette, said: “Arlette’s son still needs her to help him with everyday tasks, such as paying bills, attending appointments and managing his finances.

“But despite this she still makes time to volunteer and is so generous with her time.

“She really does make a difference to families living with brain injury in our area and helps them rebuild their lives.

“We believe Arlette is truly inspiring and deserving of the Volunteer of the Year Award.”

* Visit headway.org.uk.