Elaine Perkins’ 16-year-old grandson was travelling on a snow machine in a blizzard.
He had one of the best helmets money could buy.
But it wasn’t enough. He crashed, and the only thing damaged was his brain.
Once Perkins learned her grandson would be able to breathe on his own, and once the shock had worn off, she knew she had to do something.
“My next thought was I have to make a positive out of a negative,” she said. “I have to.”
A member of the Saskatchewan Royal Purple Association, she made a presentation to the Elks at their meeting in Saskatoon.
Sandi Loughheed and the Royal Purple took it on, and partnered up with the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association. A movement was born.
Tuesday morning the Saskatchewan Royal Purple Association and the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association kicked off the BrainLove campaign, which is held during March, designated as Brain Awareness Month.
The awareness and fundraising campaign will be run throughout the months to support those living with brain injuries and their families, as well as to support education and prevention programs to reduce the incidence of brain injury, a press release said.
The Royal Purple Association has stated its goal of raising $100,000 in five years. They’re currently over halfway to their goal, with chapters already pledging $17,000 in the first two months of 2017 alone.
For more on this story, please see the March 1 edition of the Prince Albert Daily Herald.
