ABSTRACT
This discusses the relatives’ reflections on how they have, and continue to, live with the consequences of brain injury. Everyone has their own story to tell, which is core to their ‘way of being’, and they express their values and beliefs of what is important to them, and to their relative with the brain injury. The traumas that occurred were all sudden and life-changing. In the narratives all the relatives, apart from the young children, could remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard of their relatives’ accident. The members of the family commonly described being in ‘a haze’ and ‘waking up from a nightmare’ – ‘waiting’ – their immediate uncertainties and background worries for their futures. Relatives relied on hope that everything would be ok and return to ‘normal’. The neuropsychologist thought it would be better for Adam to be discharged home, as he lacked awareness of his limitations.
