“Legit loving life”
19-year-old Rio raises £1,200, a year after his rehabilitation placement at The Children’s Trust.
Today we were visited by students from Southborough High School, who completed a ten-mile sponsored walk for The Children’s Trust, finishing at our national specialist centre in Tadworth.
The group were inspired to take on this challenge by their classmate Rio, who was supported at The Children’s Trust with a rehabilitation placement after acquiring a brain injury two years ago.
One year on from finishing his placement, Rio is now back at school and, in his own words, “legit loving life”.
Living with a brain injury
Since leaving The Children’s Trust, Rio has gone back to school and is now studying A level Psychology and Sport.
Rio said: “Going back to school in a different year group was tough, but I’m now walking independently more, and can speak for myself now – after my brain injury I couldn’t speak for myself, but now I can.
“I still can’t move my right arm much, which sucks, and I have trouble remembering things, but that’s getting better.
“I like playing Poker and Uno with my friends, and I want to get into sport as a profession. My career path has changed since my brain injury, I have now been doing motivational talks for young people.”
On the fundraising walk, Rio added: “It means a great deal to me to see all my friends come together in the place where I started my rehabilitation journey. All I can say is thank you, it means a lot.”
Niall Smith, Headteacher at Southborough High School, said:
“It is a privilege to work with an organisation as amazing as The Children’s Trust.
“The Children’s Trust has done extraordinary work with Rio since his brain injury. I came to visit him when he was on his rehabilitation placement and was blown away by the work you do and the resilience of the young people and families you support.
“We are delighted to support The Children’s Trust by fundraising, this walk has raised around £1,200 so far.”
“But more than that, it is an opportunity to support Rio and bring the young people in the school together to work towards a common goal and do good for the community. This is an experience that they will remember for a long time.”
