Sheffield personal trainer up for national award after suffering "life-changing" brain injury
A 31-year-old brain injury survivor is nominated for a national award after inspiring others through his personal training.
A Sheffield man is in the running for a national award after helping others through recovery after he survived a significant brain injury.
Jake Cooper, 31, from Sheffield, has been shortlisted as a finalist for Headway UK’s Annual Awards after he transformed his own experience of rehabilitation following a car accident in 2017.
Headway UK is a charity that provides support services and information to brain injury survivors, each year they host an awards ceremony celebrating the achievements of survivors, carers and volunteers - Jake is in the running for the Alex Richardson Achiever of the Year Award.
He said: “When you go through something traumatic a lot of people try to be their old selves, but you have to learn to adapt to the person you are now. It’s really scary at first if you don’t have the right support.
“I feel like it’s my duty to give back what was given to me during my recovery. It’s my passion to help others and encourage clients to take those little steps that add up to big steps over time.”
Back in 2017, Jake sustained a traumatic brain injury, when as a passenger, the car he was travelling in crashed into a tree at 70mph. At the time of the accident, Jake was 21-years-old and was an apprentice getting ready to qualify as an electrician.
He suffered fractures to his spine, a broken arm, multiple blood clots, a broken left leg and ankle, and an open fracture of his right lower leg.
He was placed into an induced coma and spent an initial seven weeks in hospital, followed by years of surgeries. Jake was even told he might not be able to walk again and spent 18 months in a wheelchair.
He said: “I was in a wheelchair for about a year and a half after the accident. Having that independence taken away from you, and at such a young age, is really hard.
“From being a hands-on electrician to having everyone do everything for you, it’s not a nice feeling. You lose your pride a little, but I feel I’ve gained it back through helping other people.”
In 2024, he made the decision to pursue a new career, after being supported by his occupational therapist at Rehabilitate - a therapy service that works with people directly in their own homes or communities.
Drawing on his experience of training in a gym, Jake completed volunteering and an online course structured around managing pain and fatigue, qualifying as a personal trainer at the beginning of 2025.
Since then, he has used his experiences and transformed it into support that inspires others.
Jake said: “I started working with Rehabilitate after presenting my story to them in their Lifelong Learning group. I started volunteering with them and they offered me a job, which helped me build up the confidence to set up my own business, Re-Connexion, at the start of 2025.
“It’s a unique form of personal training because most personal trainers aren’t trained to work with brain injury survivors. Traditional PT approaches often focus on pushing clients to their limits, but with brain injury survivors it’s important not to overdo it. So, it’s about building that rapport and noticing when they’re fatigued or losing concentration.”
The award he is nominated for, is sponsored by Slater & Gordon, by his occupational therapist, Sara Grimshaw at Rehabilitate Therapy.
Sara said: “Jake turned his own recovery into a second career, built to help others recover.
“Retraining as a personal trainer while managing pain, fatigue and cognitive difficulties is hard enough on its own, but using that qualification specifically to work with people rebuilding after brain injury, shows the inspiration isn’t just in his personal comeback, it’s in what he’s built for others.”
Jake said being nominated for the award gave him “an immense sense of pride” to know that the work he does in helping fellow brain injury survivors has been recognised.
Winners of the 2026 Headway Annual Awards, sponsored by Charles Stanley Raymond James, will be announced on Thursday, December 10 at The Royal Lancaster in London.