(Image: Supplied)
A County Durham woman has described how she "lost the person I was" after doctors repeatedly dismissed symptoms caused by a brain injury suffered in a car crash.
Emma Rowell, a bookshop owner and former political campaigner from Barnard Castle, spent a year searching for answers after developing dizziness, memory loss, and disorientation following a collision in which she was a passenger in a stationary car.
She was diagnosed with only cuts, bruises, and pain in her shoulder and arm and was discharged from hospital.
Ms Rowell said: "I've lost the person I was, and it took me over a year to find out why.
"From the outside, I look fine, but people don't see how much I struggle with everyday tasks I once managed with ease.
"It can be very isolating, but life is better when you understand what's wrong with you and can start to implement practical coping mechanisms."
Her symptoms persisted and worsened, affecting her ability to run her bookshop and perform daily tasks.
She said doctors repeatedly dismissed her symptoms as perimenopause, a urinary tract infection, or even attributed them to her personality.
One suggested she should just get used to feeling like she did.
A turning point came when Ms Rowell completed an online survey by a consultant neurologist researching concussion.
The neurologist suggested she may have sustained a brain injury.
She contacted Coulthursts Solicitors, a specialist brain injury law firm, who arranged for an advanced brain scan at the University of York.
The scan revealed 22 areas of damage in her brain affecting memory, balance, and planning.
Philip Coulthurst, founder and managing director of Coulthursts, said: "Emma's story is heartbreaking, but unfortunately, it reflects a pattern I have been seeing for years now.
"Due to the current standard of diagnostic technology for brain injuries, it isn't uncommon for patients to be left with the impression that nothing is wrong, while continuing to struggle with symptoms that affect their everyday life."
Ms Rowell is now working with Mr Coulthurst to raise awareness of mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) and to encourage others experiencing persistent symptoms after a head injury to speak up and seek further support.
New research by Coulthursts suggests that 250,000 people in England and Wales each year are left with an undiagnosed brain injury.
A recent white paper from Coulthursts, The Hidden Scale of Under-Recognised Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion, challenges the belief that concussion is a short-term injury.
It argues that half of all patients meeting the clinical criteria for mTBI have not recovered to their pre-injury health even after 12 months, with little improvement after five years.
Mr Coulthurst said: "The white paper highlights that approximately 90-95% of patients presenting with acute mTBI will have a normal CT scan, despite potentially suffering microscopic damage to the brain that can affect memory, concentration, balance, mood and executive functioning."
Anyone who attends A&E after a head injury will typically receive a CT scan, which is there to identify conditions like a brain bleed that need urgent medical intervention.
It cannot pick up the microscopic damage that characterises a mild brain injury.
More advanced neuroimaging can highlight mTBIs, and it was this kind of scan that finally gave Ms Rowell an explanation.
But it is not readily available to everyone who needs it, and Ms Rowell was only able to access the technology after she sought support from Coulthursts.
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Mr Coulthurst has developed a Post Concussion Symptom Checker, using medically recognised brain injury assessment questions, to help individuals identify whether persistent symptoms may indicate an undiagnosed brain injury.
Both Ms Rowell and Mr Coulthurst are urging individuals not to ignore ongoing symptoms or accept them as a new normal.
They emphasise that if a mild brain injury is diagnosed, it becomes far easier for individuals to access effective treatment.