"Thank you for standing up and being a voice"
"Thank you for being brave"
"Thank you for inspiring me to try my hand again at what makes me happy"
"You are an inspirational woman"
"I feel I've been so alone and I can't believe there are people who understand"
"I'm so happy I found you"
My email, Facebook messages, and phone in general have been exploding the last few days. And almost every single message has made me cry, so beautiful. Thank you.
So far the video posted online on the Ottawa Citizen has over 40K views, and now it's on the front page of both the Citizen and the Ottawa Sun!
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your help, your support, your belief. What an emotional roller coaster!
Thank you to my family and friends who have dealt with me the last 3.5 years and have been as patient understanding as possible.
Thank you to the photographers who signed up and volunteered to do this project before there was anything to show for it. The time you've put in means so much more than you can imagine - to agree to do something for the sheer cause with no certainty of where this may go is amazing.
Thank you to the participants, most of you have mentioned being out of your comfort zone to do this. To spend the whole day - I know, it's exhausting - to volunteer your body to share our stories. Thanks for being wonderful to talk to as we finish each other's sentences - it's so nice to talk to someone who really does understand.
Huge thank you Bruce Deachman, the writer who thought this was an interesting enough story to share and put together an amazing piece that is now circulating all over the world.
I'm getting messages saying if they can't participate in the book because they're in another city, province, COUNTRY, they want to help in any way they can.
So how can you help?
Keep spreading the word. The most common issue EVERY person reaching out has mentioned was the hell insurance has put them through. They will never understand unless we speak up. We have to fight this together - having a brain injury is hard enough, no one should go through this alone, not to mention spend what little energy they have trying to prove they're not ok.
If you're a publisher - I would love to chat. I don't mind crowd sourcing but if there's someone who can alleviate that need and help manage this project my head would really appreciate it :)
If you've suffered a concussion - I'd LOVE to hear from you. If you're in Ottawa, or think you will find yourself here at some point, give me a shout! Would love to chat, and/or would love to have you on board with the project. I want to make this BIG - the more images, the more powerful and raw this book will be.
If you're a photographer - I'm always looking for more talent to feature. I create the design, but you have full creative license with what you'd like to do with the images and portray the story.
If you are working on something that you believe could help this cause, would love to hear from you to collaborate something :)
We can do this. Let's unite and put a face to the invisible! No more suffering alone.