Recovering from physical trauma to find work in an industry you love

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After a motorcycle accident in 2019 Andres was left with physical health challenges, as well as finding himself out of work… this also had a negative impact on his mental health… here Andres tells us his inspirational recovery story in his own words…

In April of 2019 I had a motorcycle accident which meant that I had a lot of physical health challenges and a long recovery period which meant that I was out of work for over a year, and this also had its negative effect on my mental health.

I started to struggle quite a bit and I got myself into therapy to support myself during this time.  Unfortunately, the time that I joined ‘Back on Track’ which was the mental health organisation, it was just before the pandemic, so when the pandemic hit, the services had to be cut short, so I was left very confused as to what I was going to do.  I definitely felt stronger but I did think that I was not ready yet to go out and handle everything by myself.  However, they did refer me to Twining because I told them that I was keen to start looking for employment and so when I was referred to Twining I felt as though therapy never stopped.

It was a very encouraging and supportive experience. I felt that my interests were being taken into account when we were also looking for employment opportunities.  But most importantly my employment specialist Dina was very understanding that I still had many surgeries to go and so she was very flexible with her approach as to how we were going to look for those opportunities.  She really did make me feel as if my health was the priority in the situation and as soon as my health was in order then we would be looking for more opportunities together and be more active.

But what I got was a lot more - I got a lot of support, I got a lot of encouragement, a lot of motivation, she has helped to build my confidence and also to kind of see a bigger picture that maybe I wasn't seeing before because I was so de-motivated.

I felt that the programme really helped me to get to where I am now because now I am in full time employment in the health industry which is something that I'm really interested in.  It also really built up my mental health during this time so I feel that I am more prepared to handle other challenges that life might throw at me.

So, I'm very grateful for Twining and I am very grateful for all the work that they do and I hope that they keep on thriving.

 

Please note - This charitable project is funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund.

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