Headway UK Ambassador

Bruce Powell • May 26, 2026

Both Sides of the Bed

Becoming an Headway UK Ambassador is an honour and I am grateful to CEO Luke Griggs for having such faith in me.


‘Ambassador’, the title will sit uncomfortably for a while. The same with any label that defines who you are, when you are not sure yourself. 


I spent much of my career inside systems, the NHS, the Navy and as a specialist in Intensive Care in the UK and Australia. When I woke up on the other side of the bed, as a critically injured patient, I discovered how fragmented, confusing and exhausting those same systems can feel when your brain no longer behaves as expected.


Brain injury does not fit neatly into categories. It sits awkwardly between neurology, mental health, rehabilitation, disability, employment, relationships and identity. That makes it easy to underestimate and easy to ignore.


What Headway UK understands, better than most, is that rehabilitation is not simply about survival or hospital discharge. It is about rebuilding a life in the middle of uncertainty.


I suspect my role as an ambassador will not be to smile politely and repeat slogans. I’m better suited to asking uncomfortable questions, starting difficult conversations and translating between worlds that often struggle to understand each other.


Doctor and patient.


Professional and vulnerable.


Recovery and grief.


Hope and realism.


Those tensions matter.


The last seven years have taught me that people with brain injuries do not just need treatment. They need language, community, meaning and somewhere honest to land when life no longer resembles their original plan.


I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.


Bruce



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