The Thinking Ahead Podcast

In episode one of series 2, Paul Obey, explores a vital question: how can the spoken word, and podcasts themselves, be more accessible for everyone?   In this first episode, I sit down with fellow brain injury survivors to share their lived experiences. From the frustration of endless phone menus to the challenge of filtering background noise, their stories reveal how overwhelming communication ca...

Episode 10: Reflections – A Never-Ending Journey…   In this episode, Paul reflects upon Series 1 of Thinking Ahead as a whole and how Podcasting has helped him on his journey of recovery. Paul shares with us the profound benefits of Podcasting in establishing and re-building his sense of identity which has given him purpose and meaning in being able to help others with acquired brain injury, their...

One person is admitted to hospital with a brain injury every 90 seconds within the UK which equates to approximately 977 admissions to hospital a day. More and more people are surviving brain injuries due to advances in acute medicine but this means more needs to be done so these people can access ongoing community neurorehabilitation to optimise their recovery and reduce the longer term societal...

People living with hidden injuries and disabilities often face barriers or judgement in their day-to-day lives. So how do you raise awareness and tell people about a condition that can’t be seen? In this episode, Paul interviews fellow brain injury survivors, Rob and Jules, who describe the challenges they face within the community, and together, with Paul, explain how beneficial it is to come tog...

A brain injury will impact everyone around the person with the brain injury. It’s an incredible adjustment having to learn to live with what seems like a different person and this can come with confusion and frustrations for all parties.   Brain injury charities play an important role in supporting not only the person with the brain injury, but their family and friends too.   In this episode, Paul...

The frontal lobes of our brains control our emotions and behaviours from happiness and joy to frustration, impatience and anger.  Following a brain injury, strong emotions may rapidly become exaggerated and heightened for some and difficult to regulate.   In this episode, Neuropsychologist, Dr Alex Garfield, explains how there can often be a difficult adjustment period following a brain injury for...

Episode 5: Fatigue - Brain tired not body tired   In this episode, Neuro Speech and Language Therapist, Eleanor Woodward, and Neuropsychologist, Dr Alex Garfield, explain how the brain has to work that much harder following a brain injury to concentrate, process and sort out information, engage in conversations and make sense of the world around us.   Together, Paul and fellow brain injury survivo...

Episode 4: Vestibular Function - Running on uneven ground   Paul is a keen and proficient sportsman who enjoys tennis, golf, indoor bowls and park runs. Although he could walk and move as normal following his brain injury, he was devasted to find he struggled to regain his sporting ability. Paul learnt this was as a result of damage to his vestibular system that subtly effected his balance, the co...

Episode 3: Executive Function - Talking the talk, not walking the walk Together with Natalie MacKenzie, Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapist, Paul treats us to an intriguing episode about the ‘frontal lobe paradox’ where intentions and actions do not quite mirror. Paul brings this poorly understood concept to the forefront through his own insight building and realisations about his own executive fun...

Episode 2: Communication - “I’m Done With This Conversation!” Paul has a background in radio presenting and fortunately, following his accident, he has maintained his ability to speak fluently and articulately. Nevertheless, this episode delves deeper into the fundamental cognitive skills required to engage appropriately and effectively with our conversational partners and the amount of energy a p...

Episode 1 – Life Can Change in a Moment… In this introductory episode, Paul casts us back to that memorable and glorious day whilst working at the Ryder Cup in Paris in September 2018 before tragedy hit. Paul details the devastating chain of events that led to him being in a coma and, later, being medically transferred back to the UK. In an interview with renowned Neurologist, Dr Nikos Gorgoraptis...