The winner of the Mike Barnes Award for Innovation was Steven Purdy of Neuroguard - a reusable device that elevates the patient’s head to exactly 30 degrees while maintaining full spinal immobilisation to support best-practice care without compromising safety. Steven, who is a paramedic, developed the prototype having seen that in accidents where there is a traumatic brain injury the patient is often left flat, due to concerns about orthopaedic injuries, despite the research which show that elevation gives better outcomes.

The runner-up was Aaron Chung-Jukko for the Heady app.

The winner of the Stephen McAleese Award for Inspiration was jointly won by two incredible finalists. Joint winners were Steph Grant for the resilience and strength he has shown and Zara Dyer,  who, following an acquired brain injury, established the charity 3 Million Steps. Steph and Zara are pictured below with UKABIF Treasurer, Peter Freeman who was on the panel of judges for the award.

The UKABIF Poster Award went to The Children’s Trust for their entry ‘Transforming goal setting in a paediatric neurorehabilitation setting.’ Tim Grove was unfortunately unable to attach to receive his award. Nora Brennan from East London Headway was the runner up and is pictured above with Sabrina McCarron from Thompsons Solicitors.

The Awards are sponsored by Thompsons Solicitors.