'We grieved for the Mark we once knew': A mother's perspective of life after brain injury

At 24, Mark Ballentine, from Ballymena, had it all to live for. He was engaged to be married to a girl he adored, had a job he loved, and his friends and close family were his life.

But in a single night – and with a single punch – Mark's carefully mapped out plans for the future were turned upside-down as the incident left him with a devastating brain injury.

Twenty years later, Mark is almost fully dependent on his mum Kathleen and dad, John.

Brain injury and me: Kathleen Ballentine provides a moving perspective of how brain injury can change lives in an instant, forever altering relationships and futures.

"For us, one punch changed everything," said Kathleen. "It changed Mark and it changed our whole family. He lived, but we still grieved for the Mark we once knew.

"One punch can change so many lives.”