Another academic award for inspirational brain injury survivor

Now, he has just been commended by Northern Ireland’s Employment and Learning Minister for his academic achiements, despite the memory loss, concentration and anxiety problems associated with his injuries.

This comes just over two months after clinching ‘Essential Skills learner of the year’ at an awards ceremony in Belfast, such has been his determination to get on with his life despite his horrific injuries.

Speaking to the Sentinel ahead of his first award, Mr McDermott spoke about his long road to recovery, and paid tribute to local charity ‘The Cedar Foundation’. He said: “It is three years since I was in an RTA – a road traffic accident. I was left in a coma for nine days. I was a passenger. I think it was a month before the accident that I can remember anything. I was going up to the hospital for 11 months. Whenever I woke up from the coma I was kept in for a month and a half and I still remember nothing about it whatsoever. It completely wiped my memory. The driver had a cracked pelvis. I had six broken ribs, a collapsed lung, internal bleeding in the brain – it was pretty bad. I was lucky to survive. What do you call it, resuscitation? I had to be resuscitated three or four times. I was lucky to walk away.

“I’m 22 coming 23 now. I would have been 19 coming 20. It must have been 14 months of recovery before I could even have come so far as to come and see Cedar. It would have been 14 months after my accident before my occupational therapist would have thought about presenting me to Cedar.

“I remember bits of my recovery. I was very, very, very bad with anxiety. Even when I first started coming here (Cedar) I was still really bad with anxiety, anger and stuff like that. I wouldn’t have been able to sit still.” Now, he is Essential Skills Learner of the Year and a VQ Awards finalist.

The Sentinel interviewed Paul McDermott before he claimed his first academic award earlier this year. In the original interview he spoke of his hopes of going on to study law after being forced to change his career goals.

Congratulating the Vocational Qualification Learner of the Year finalists, including Paul McDermott, the Employment and Learning Minister, Dr Stephen Farry said: “Skills and knowledge are widely accepted as key in the modern economy and have an important part to play if we in Northern Ireland are to achieve our goal of rebuilding and rebalancing the local economy. If Northern Ireland is to compete in the global market there must be a concerted effort to drive up skills on all fronts. Vocational qualifications have a vital role to play in this regard.”

“I commend the finalists whose accomplishments have been demonstrated today including the drive and determination you have shown in pursuing and achieving your goals. You are inspirational role models to your peers, and I wish each of you continued success in your chosen vocational areas. I want to thank each of you for the role that you have played, and are continuing to play, in championing vocational qualifications within the workplace.”