IN OCTOBER 2005, Galway teenager Shane Mullins drove drunk and crashed his car.

Aged just 17, Shane was brought to the brink of death: after four days in a coma he regained consciousness but had sustained a horrific brain injury.

“Two days, when I was in that coma, I had no brain activity… so my mother and my family were asked to prepare for the worst,” Shane recalls during a new Doc on One radio documentary, to be aired today.

Now, after several years of rehabilitation, Shane is touring the country to talk about his experiences and share the self-help system he developed to deal with the emotional strain of his accident.

“With a brain injury, there’s isolation and loneliness,” he said. “I knew I could get out there and get better – but how? And then D’MESS was born.”

Shane’s D’MESS programme aims to help educate people on mental health issues by focusing on key areas:

‘D’ = Determination

‘M’ = Motivation

‘E’ = Emotional

‘S’ = Support

‘S’ = Social

“The Comeback Kid” will air on RTÉ Radio One at 2pm today.

Read: Global traumatic brain injury rates could be six times higher than thought – study
Read: German TV station airs Healy Rae drink-drive segment

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More