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Deborah Au passed away on February 20, 2020 after a long 43 year battle with the effects of a brain injury, and short battle with lung cancer, and bone cancer.
She was a loving single mother, grandmother, horseback rider (in her youth), a songwriter, and genuine friend to anyone she crossed paths with.
At age 19 she was hit by a drunk driver while crossing the road, and her body was dragged several blocks leaving her in a coma that she would not wake from for six months, it would also leave her crippled for the rest of her life.
In the 1970s not very much was known about brain injuries and her symptoms were diagnosed as mental illnesses. Debbie was given medication after medication to try and combat these symptoms but all it proved to do was make her mental state worsen over time. The side effect of most of these medications is weight gain, and that coupled with her crippled body eventually led to her being wheelchair bound. Unable to work or perform regular tasks she began chain smoking cigarettes which eventually led to COPD and then Lung Cancer. The lung cancer would eventually spread to her bones.
With the stigma around mental illnesses dissolving and brain injury awareness growing everyday, it is my hope that Deborah Au's story will encourage the next generation of people suffering from brain injuries to seek the right help and promote awareness and acceptance within families and communities and the public.
The 2500 dollar target is to donate a memorial park bench to Tuc-El-Nuit Lake Park located in the Township of Oliver BC Canada. Any donations exceeding the 2500 dollar target will be donated to Emilia Clarke's Brain Injury Charity, www.sameyou.org to support brain injury awareness, research and rehabilitation.
She was a loving single mother, grandmother, horseback rider (in her youth), a songwriter, and genuine friend to anyone she crossed paths with.
At age 19 she was hit by a drunk driver while crossing the road, and her body was dragged several blocks leaving her in a coma that she would not wake from for six months, it would also leave her crippled for the rest of her life.
In the 1970s not very much was known about brain injuries and her symptoms were diagnosed as mental illnesses. Debbie was given medication after medication to try and combat these symptoms but all it proved to do was make her mental state worsen over time. The side effect of most of these medications is weight gain, and that coupled with her crippled body eventually led to her being wheelchair bound. Unable to work or perform regular tasks she began chain smoking cigarettes which eventually led to COPD and then Lung Cancer. The lung cancer would eventually spread to her bones.
With the stigma around mental illnesses dissolving and brain injury awareness growing everyday, it is my hope that Deborah Au's story will encourage the next generation of people suffering from brain injuries to seek the right help and promote awareness and acceptance within families and communities and the public.
The 2500 dollar target is to donate a memorial park bench to Tuc-El-Nuit Lake Park located in the Township of Oliver BC Canada. Any donations exceeding the 2500 dollar target will be donated to Emilia Clarke's Brain Injury Charity, www.sameyou.org to support brain injury awareness, research and rehabilitation.