Stephen McAleese Award for Inspiration

The Stephen McAleese Award for Inspiration was sponsored by Cygnet Health Care and was awarded to Jason Le Masurier. Jason had a brain injury following a kitesurfing accident in 2007 and overcame his adversity to complete marathons, raising funds for charities and is now a speaker, author and coach. 

You can see a short interview with Jason and UKABIF Trustee, Peter Freeman here.

About Stephen 

Stephen was rushed to hospital with meningitis at the age of 15. Luckily his life was saved but he needed extensive rehabilitation. Stephen returned to school one year later, but was in a wheelchair. Stephen needed a lot of support to come to terms with his new life as a disabled person  - his family were central to this. 

The post-school experience was very difficult for Stephen. With the structure of schooldays behind him and the medical profession judging that his condition had reached a plateau, Stephen was facing the prospect of a long life with long-term disabilities. 

A major turning point occurred in his life when he discovered North Cumbria Headway in Carlisle. Headway became a second family and provided Stephen with many new opportunities. He took part in the Tall Ships Race under the auspice of the Jubilee Sailing Trust with a mixed physical abilities crew and sailed the Baltic Sea and made an Atlantic crossing in the tall ship Tenacious. 

Stephen spent much of his time raising awareness and campaigning for specialist neuro-service and rehabilitation. He became an authoritative voice and was appointed to the Northern Acquired Brain Injury Forum and  was also a trustee of UKABIF. 

During this time he brought energy and enthusiasm to the UKABIF board, together with learnings from his own lived experience of acquired brain injury.  He was invited to speak about his experiences at the first meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Acquired Brain Injury.   Very sadly Stephen passed away and UKABIF established this award in his name the following year.