Residents are encouraged to boogie on down to Crescent Park on Sunday for the 21st annual Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association Brain Boogie. 

The fundraising and awareness event gets underway at 10 a.m. with the walk starting at 10:30. 

Those looking for a shorter walk can walk around the serpentine, while those who are more mobile can walk the trails at the top of the hill and there is also a 5K walk around the park. 

Following the walk, there will be lunch and socializing. 

The event raises funds for the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association’s programs to support brain injury survivors and families. 

“People that we work with are people whose lives have been unalterably changed, and so we provide social programs and exercise programs so that they have something to get out of bed for every day and to try and help them keep the gains that they made in rehab,” said executive director Glenda James. 

James added that thousands of people in Saskatchewan acquire brain injuries every year. 

“There are about 2,500 brain injuries that occur in Saskatchewan every year. That’s not a small number, especially when you consider that most of the people who receive brain injuries are between the ages of 15 and 25,” she explained. 

James said that during the pandemic, in particular, they saw a “shadow pandemic” of interpersonal violence which also led to a rise in brain injuries. 

Because of this, the brain injury association is launching a national program called Purple Thursday to encourage people to wear purple to raise awareness. The launch takes place Oct. 19 at TCU Place in Saskatoon with a number of workshops and guest speakers. 

James hopes the launch can also help frontline professionals and those who encounter people with brain injuries on a regular basis as sometimes a brain injury can be hard to detect from the outside looking in. 

“People don’t realize that this could be a brain injury. Then people are often treated like they’re on drugs or drunk because a brain injury can act like that. I mean, drugs and alcohol impair the brain and the brain is not operating correctly,” James said. 

She noted that over the years, the attitude towards brain injuries has changed drastically. The example she gave was how we now treat concussions. 

“Virtually every sports organization at every level has concussion protocols now, and they don’t send people back out. They don’t say ‘shake it off’ and ‘get back out there.’” James said. 

You can find more information about brain injuries or register for the Brain Boogie by visiting the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association’s website. 

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