Who are you?

May 14, 2025

Who are you? You’re not just your name? That’s not all you are.

What about your school, your family, your footy club, your nationality, your job, your age, your hobbies?

Do you ever think what makes you, you?

—-

6 years ago, I had to think very hard about who I was. I had a terrible accident and when I woke up, I had forgotten. Loads of things changed that day.

The nurse who found me became a life-saver.

The helicopter crew from the RFDS proved how amazingly skilled they are.

My wife, Anita became the bravest, kindest person anyone could ever be.

I became an Intensive Care patient and someone with brain damage.

The thing is, that being a ‘doctor’ isn’t who I am. That’s just a thing I used to do for work.

I’m not a patient anymore either, although I will always be brain damaged.

Look at those photos. I am not a navy officer, or a cowboy either ………and BTW that’s not the real Elvis.

During my recovery, I was told that I was neurodivergent.

OK, I am not arguing, but that’s not WHO I am, either.

—-

Bruce likes sport and hates bananas.

Bruce loves TV and hates spiders.

Bruce loves the beach and hates studying.

Bruce is hard-working and lazy.

I am all of these things.

It’s OK to be lots of different things.

That’s who I am.

Sometimes we must be who others want us to be; a good son or a hard-working pupil.

That can be hard sometimes. I have done lots of things I love and I have done things I hated too.

That’s how I managed to become a doctor, a husband and a Dad.

The better you know who you are, the better you know when things will be easy and also when you’ll have to try hard and do things that you don’t like.

Just so long as you figure out who you are, you will succeed and be proud of yourself.

Just make sure you know who YOU are.

So if I asked you again now, who are you? What would you say? Think about it tonite.

Maybe ask your loved ones who they are.

See what they say.

Thank you for reading this.

I am Bruce. That’s me.


Hamlet cover with a black hand holding a white skull on a pale background
By Bruce Powell July 30, 2026
What Hamlet and the operating theatre reveal about automaticity, high performance, rehearsal and life after brain injury.
The Lancet Global Health logo in black and magenta text on a white background
By Bruce Powell July 13, 2026
An ICU doctor who became a brain injury survivor on why the world must finally count TBI as the chronic, lifelong condition it is.
Abstract portrait of a man with gray hair and beard, surrounded by chaotic scribbles, arrows, and geometric shapes
By Bruce Powell June 30, 2026
A traumatic brain injury exposed the ADHD that once powered my career. A raw, honest story about when a superpower turns curse
Red math book titled “The Book of Mathematics” standing on a wooden floor by a window.
By Bruce Powell June 23, 2026
A restless boy, nuns, Christian Brothers and a mind that refused to sit still. A childhood story about intelligence, shame and difference.
Sunset over a sandy beach with silhouettes of people near the waterline
By Bruce Powell June 16, 2026
An ICU doctor becomes the patient after a brain injury, and finds the language of burnout and trauma too thin for what's actually been lost.
Sketch of a man wearing headphones and glasses, seated and labeled “Bruce”
By Bruce Powell May 26, 2026
Former intensive care doctor turned brain injury patient and advocate reflects on recovery, identity, rehabilitation and life after survival.
Headway logo with a face in hands and the text “the brain injury association”
By Bruce Powell May 19, 2026
A reflection on caring, exhaustion and survival, and how writing, poetry and creativity offer carers a quiet place to put things down.
Waterfront city skyline across a calm blue bay under a clear sky, with a railing in the foreground
By Bruce Powell May 13, 2026
A near-fatal crash, a stranger by the river, and the uneasy recognition that sometimes survival depends on someone stopping to ask if you’re OK.
Fluffy brown dog with a dark face sitting outdoors on green grass, looking left
By Bruce Powell May 12, 2026
A brain injury survivor reflects on friendship, identity and uncertainty after trauma, where survival can feel lonelier than loss.
Red question marks blocking a blue arrow path between two rows of directional buttons
By Bruce Powell May 6, 2026
Experience teaches doctors how to stay calm when everything feels chaotic. High performance is often just structured thinking under pressure.
Show More