Holly Kostrzewski has not let a traumatic brain injury from a motor vehicle accident hold her back.
Drawing on her lived experience, she will deliver the keynote at the first Traumatic Brain Injury Conference to be held in New Zealand in March.
Kostrzewski, who has a Masters in Public Health and safety specialist for the impaired driving division at the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will share her experiences living with TBI including challenges relating to working, dating and seizures. She will also speak about the journey she and her family have faced through her TBI and her father’s spinal cord injury, hospitalisation and rehabilitation. She is the founder of HUGS: Helmet Use and Grab your Seatbelt, a brain injury education and prevention program for children.
Kostrzewski is recognised in the United States and Canada as a leading presenter at brain injury and medical professional conferences, correctional institutions, colleges and high schools. To date she has reached over 700,00 people with her messages of hope, humour and inspiration.
A variety of speakers
Another speaker at this year’s inaugural event is Tori Dent from Brisbane, a perioperative theatre nurse at Logan Hospital until 2020 when she was diagnosed with an undifferentiated brainstem lesion. She defied the odds of the medical team, learning to walk, talk and smile, proving that sometimes the only limits are the ones you refuse to accept.
Rehabilitation coach and secondary school teacher Alan Signal, who will also speak at the conference, found the world of disability support services his real calling. He has worked in the sector for over 20 years and is a rehabilitation coach with the Laura Fergusson Trust in Wellington, NZ, working with TBI and spinal cord injuries clients.
Garry Whittaker, regional manager for training services with the NSW Department of Education, who has held roles with TAFE, the Australian Federal Police and Charles Sturt University, will bring his experience as a learning and development professional to the conference. He suffered a TBI injury resulting in aphasia, an acquired language impairment and is now a passionate advocate for how wellbeing can be enhanced by including brain fitness in everyday living to maintain and enhance cognitive health.
The conference theme “Keeping it Real: Real Injury, Real People, Real Lives” will emphasise the lived experiences of individuals and their families who are affected by TBI. The latest research, rehabilitation and approaches to enhancing people’s lives with new ideas and solutions for everyday issues will also be key themes from 36 conference sessions and 42 speakers.
Interpoint Events, which has been organising the Brain Injury Australia conference since 2018, has partnered with the Laura Fergusson Brain Injury Trust for this new event.
It will be held at Te Pau, Christchurch, NZ from March 12-13, 2025.
Register today via the website, Brain Injury Conference NZ, or call NZ 0800 451 590 or AUS 1300 789 845 to book.