At 23 years of age, Brian was on his way home from serving with the Australian Navy in Iraq. While stopping over in Goa, he suffered a brain injury as a result of a poisonous substance.
“11 long and lonely years later Youngcare found my brother Brian in a long-term rehab centre. They gave my brother a new life. He moved into the Youngcare Sharehouse and was given a Grant to make his new house a home,” Brian’s sister, Tash said.
As Tash looks back on this period in her life, she has come to understand that the family members of individuals with disabilities experience the challenges and joys alongside their loved ones, just as profoundly.
“Brian’s life changed, so did our entire family’s lives. You’ve changed our lives in a way that’s allowed us to reconnect as a family,” Tash said with gratitude.
Tash’s connection to Youngcare is strong. After developing friendships with the team through Brian’s transition out of hospital, Tash started volunteering regularly and even participated in Youngcare’s adventure challenges. Even though she has been a part of the wider Youngcare community for many, many years, she became eager to work for the organisation that had given so much to her family.
“I felt a vibe that I haven’t felt in a workplace for a very long time. I just really wanted to have that vibe in my life. I also wanted to make sure that our family paid it back, so that someone else’s family could get what Brian now has.”
Now, 3 years on as a Youngcare team member, Tash has been able to assist even more young people with physical disabilities, like her brother. She truly sees the difference Youngcare’s valued supporters make to the thousands of young people with disabilities who need a helping hand.
Tash urges you to consider the impact of even just a small donation,
“This will be the ninth Christmas in a Youngcare home; nine years that Brian’s been living his own life. So much has changed in those nine years for Brian – stuck in a hospital room, to being able to live in his own home.
Your donation goes far and wide.”
