by Louise Doyle
CEO of Alcohol Forum Ireland Paula Leonard is taking on a swim a day for one month in Donegal’s freezing waters.
‘Brain Freeze: Paula Leonard’s dip a day in December for Alcohol Related Brain Injury’ got underway on Monday in Rathmullan, where she was surrounded by well wishers and local singersongwriters Aidan Laird and Maria McCormack, who sang festive songs as she braced the chilly waters.
Throughout the month, she will be swimming at beaches across Donegal, Sligo and Mayo, and there will even be a dip at a lake in Cavan.
The Mayo native, who has been living in Donegal since 1998, is a friendly and familiar face at Alcohol Forum Ireland’s local office in Ballyraine.
Paula is undertaking the challenge to raise vital funds and awareness for alcohol related brain injury (ARBI), a condition often mistaken for dementia.
It is estimated that one in eight people with an alcohol problem will go on to develop some level of cognitive impairment due to alcohol consumption.
The symptoms range from mild memory loss and confusion to more serious neurological impairments that can impact every aspect of a person’s life. In many cases, the signs of alcohol related brain injury are mistaken for mental illness, dementia or simply dismissed altogether.
For over a decade, Alcohol Forum Ireland has been an organisation that, through its Donegal office in Letterkenny, provides case coordination and support to individuals and families affected by alcohol related brain injury here in the county.
The organisation works to improve understanding of the condition, support recovery, and advocate for specialised rehabilitation services. With timely intervention, up to 75 per cent of those with ARBI can make a partial or full recovery.
Breath work with Carol Anne O’Kane.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Paula said through her fundraiser she hopes to break down stigma while also raising vital funds for more supports for those affected by alcohol related brain injury.
“I want to break down stigma and raise awareness about alcohol related brain injury, and get people talking about it.
“For 15 years, Alcohol Forum Ireland has been funded by Donegal Mental Health Service, and we’re really grateful for that because they are the only health service in the country that fund a dedicated resource officer for alcohol related brain injury. It’s brilliant to have it, and I couldn’t say enough good things about them.
“Physiotherapy and occupational therapy could be so beneficial to clients, and at the moment there are long waiting lists for those, and we may not get them in the public system. When our alcohol related brain injury officer is working with families and clients, I would like to have a little pot of money so that we could buy some specialist supports for our clients on their recovery journey.”
Paula said it isn’t known how many people in Donegal are living with an alcohol related brain injury, but international figures show that one in eight people with alcohol dependency at the level of addiction could develop an alcohol related brain injury in their lifetime.
“That means that up to 65,000 people in Ireland could have an alcohol related brain injury.
“From our own service, we know that the people coming though our door have various levels of impairment; balance, memory, short term memory and it really impacts confidence, a whole range of things,” said Paula.
The idea for the fundraiser struck Paula while walking on the beach one evening during the summer.
“I want to provide practical, timely supports to people to make their lives better, and walking on the beach I had the thought, ‘brain health, brain freeze’, and from there the idea came.”
A former swimming teacher and lifeguard, Paula will be supported on some of her swims by the swim community. However, she has stressed she is not asking the public to join her because of the risks associated with winter swimming.
“I am swimming each day but I’m not giving myself specific lengths or a time. There are rules of thumb, so, for example, if the temperature is three degrees you don’t stay in the water for longer than three minutes.
“The challenge is to get in and do a bit of swimming every day.
“I’m doing 32 days, from December 1 to January 1. I was going to finish on the last day of December but I’ve had a couple of invitations to join a few people for a new year’s day swim. I’ve decided to do one of those, but I haven’t decided which one yet,” said Paula.
Anyone wishing to donate to the fundraiser can do so via https:www.idonate.ieeventBrainFreezePaulaLeonardsdipadayinDecemberforAlcoholRelatedBrainInjury
