RoadPeace is excited to be introducing our first ever support group for injured victims in South Wales in January 2021 thanks to support from our legal panel members Hugh James.
Support group meetings will offer victims a safe space to talk about their experiences and meet others in similar situations.
Meetings will be held bi-monthly and our first meeting will be taking place on Wednesday 6th January 2021, 6pm. Due to the pandemic we will be hosting this meeting online via Zoom.
RoadPeace has also partnered with Angela McShane, Founder and Director of The Reinvention. Angela’s work involves supporting, empowering and inspiring individuals and families to triumph over injury and campaigning around road safety issues.
Angela was also seriously injured herself in a road crash. Here she tells us about her experience and why she wanted to be involved with the support group.
“Hi there, my name is Angela McShane. First and foremost, I am a survivor of a serious road traffic incident.
I was making my way home from work when I was knocked down by an intoxicated driver, high on drink and drugs. He was driving without insurance and doing 70mph in a 30mph zone and decided to leave me critically ill at the side of the road. In that moment, my life, and those close to me, changed forever.
I spent over a year lying in a hospital bed. This little corner room was now my home to recover and heal from the life-changing injuries that I suffered. I was told during that time that, due to the nature of my injuries, I may not walk again, live independently or be able to have children.
The road to recovery was long, arduous and very lonely. However, with grit and determination, I refused to be defined by someone else’s mistake and my journey to reinvent myself and my life into something positive had begun.
I subsequently created The Reinvention: Triumph over Injury community interests company to help others who have been through similar traumatic injuries, as well as deliver inspirational presentations and workshops on overcoming adversity and confidence building to schools, business and organisations. Along with, helping others through their post-crash care recovery processes at hospitals has been hugely rewarding. My journey has taken me all over Scotland to various areas in England and the USA.
As well as all this, I am a proud road safety ambassador for the Scottish Government, Road Safety Scotland and RoadPeace. I feel incredibly excited to work alongside the inspirational RoadPeace to deliver our heroes support group. Sharing my decades of experience in regards to pre & post crash care recovery is a wonderful opportunity.
I deeply understand the challenges that come from surviving a road traffic incident, how it can impact on all areas of lifestyle and I am looking forward to supporting victims on their inspiring journey to recovery with RoadPeace. This is at the heart of why I have teamed up with RoadPeace.
I have learned we are not defined by what happened to us but by what we do next”.
You can see a video about Angela and her story here: https://triumphoverinjury.com/home
If you would like to attend a meeting or know of anyone who could benefit, please contact Belina Rauli (Director of Support Services) at Belina.rauli@roadpeace.org.
Updated on: 16 December 2020