IWD 2020: Kelly Christie on surviving a traumatic brain injury & becoming a CND Grand Master

Scratch puts the spotlight on inspiring & successful businesswomen in the run up to International Women’s Day, 8 March… 

Kelly Christie

MEET KELLY CHRISTIE
Kelly is a traumatic brain injury survivor, public speaker and nail technician. Attending a number of events including the Scottish Brain Injury Forum, Glaxo and Montrose Academy’s Senior Presentation Night, Kelly speaks about her brain injury, mental health and career after the incident. Kelly hopes to inspire and help people to talk about their own mental wellbeing while giving them hope that they can change their lives step by step. 

Here, Kelly tells her story…

I was involved in a car accident 14 years ago and suffered a severe brain injury. I was 24-years-old at the time and a single mother of a five-year-old girl. As a result of the accident, I died three times while I was in a coma and was on life support for a week. I was told I would never be able to learn any new information or travel alone and that I would need a carer for the rest of my life, as my short term memory was seconds long.

After a few years into my recovery, I wasn’t making any progress and I wouldn’t leave my house – I am partially sighted and epileptic, which caused problems for me. I was simply lost in my own body and mind until I was severely depressed with no idea who I was and with no hope of finding out. I experienced severe mood swings, my daughter became a carer at the age of five and I felt like a burden. Eventually, it became so unbearable that I took an overdose.

At this point I turned to private health care and, within a few months, somebody began to listen to me. My case manager, Lynn, spoke to me and we formulated a plan to get my life back on track. I was so determined to have a ‘normal’ life that I pushed myself to relearn life all over again.

“After 14 years of living with a brain injury, I now feel ready to give back and help others going through a hard time of any description,” Kelly Christie. 

I completed a HNC in Professional Cookery and I started a course at Abertay University, which I had to leave in the first year due to my father being ill. After this, I attended college in Arbroath to study Health & Social Care Level 2 and really enjoyed it – it also helped my recovery, as a lot of what I learned was what I had been through so it helped me to understand what was happening.

Unfortunately, I was an insomniac and experienced frequent seizures so I had to go down to part time study, which I hated as it was only two afternoons a week. I snuck back into classes full time and passed as a full time student. This was huge for me and I was also given a place on the Higher Mental Health course.

During that summer, I started to work in my local nail salon to keep me busy in the holidays before my course was to start so I didn’t fall into old habits. Little did I know this was to be a huge turning point for me. I loved being in the sociable environment of a salon and, soon, it was all I could think about. While I was three weeks into the Higher Mental Health course, I decided to train in nails as a hobby.

I trained in acrylic at first and, from that, I decided to leave college. I then trained to the highest level I could, course after course, and I am now a CND Grand Master. I started working for myself after the first year of training, by my second year I had opened my first salon and by my third year I won my first award, which was for my dedication to education. I have also worked backstage and London and Paris Fashion Weeks, gone on to win another two awards as the Best Nail Salon in Angus and placed second in the whole of Scotland, and appeared in nail magazines both in the UK and America.

I am now volunteering with the Samaritans and I absolutely love helping other people. I am also waiting to find out if I have secured a place at Abertay University, as I plan to qualify to become a counsellor. After 14 years of living with a brain injury, I now feel ready to give back and help others going through a hard time of any description. Previously, I was taking everything minute-by-minute, but now I am enjoying life: I am planning my future with excitement.

Follow Kelly’s nail journey here.