Should a loved one of yours ever be unfortunate enough to suffer a life-changing injury, they are going to need you by their side throughout the aftermath of the incident. With you to rely on during this very delicate time in their life, they will find it much easier to embrace their new reality and, with a bit of luck, they might even find the strength they need to make some sort of recovery.
Supporting a loved one who has suffered a life-changing injury is never going to be easy; there’s no doubt about that. If you’re to face up to this all-important challenge in the strongest and most compassionate way possible, you’re going to have to put the following advice into practice:
Make life easy for them
Once the dust has settled on their incident and they are forced to move forward with their life, your loved one will face a whole new reality. To ensure that this post-injury reality isn’t difficult for them to deal with or process, you must attempt to make life easy for them going forward.
One way to do this is to modify their home so that it is made safe and accessible for them on a day-to-day basis. This will allow them to retain both the quality of life and the standard of living that they are used to, which, in turn, will help them to stay positive and tackle any bouts of depression that they may experience.
If your loved one has had their mobility limited by the injury that they suffered, then you should consider modifying their home in the following ways:
- Have a stairlift fitted by an expert such as South Wales Mobility
- Fit grab bars around the home
- Install a door-entry intercom
Remain calm
You might not have been the one to suffer the life-changing injury, but you will still be impacted by the ongoing turmoil that it causes in your family. The strain of the injury will no doubt take its toll on you at some point going forward, which is why you must attempt to remain calm during this very delicate time. Should you let your emotions get the best of you, you may start blaming your loved one for what has happened. Should this happen, you will more than likely end up making life unnecessarily difficult for them.
To remain calm during the aftermath of your loved one’s injury, you should:
- Focus on the facts and ignore the fear
- Ask questions and staying informed
- Refrain from asking ‘what if?’
- Stay as positive as you can
- Share your burdens and slow down
- Limit your caffeine and alcohol consumption
If a loved one of yours ever suffers a catastrophic life-changing injury, it’s imperative that you provide them with as much support as you can offer. Being there for them in this instance will help them to make sense of what has happened, and it might even assist them during their recovery process.
