LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky hosted a Brain Walk & Roll Event on Saturday, May 10. Hundreds of people showed up to walk a full mile to support friends and loved ones who are afflicted by brain injuries.

Bob Paisley, the Executive Director of BIAK, gave a speech to those in attendance.

“As a lot of you well know, brain injury occurs suddenly and without warning and it can totally turn out lives upside down. I’d like to especially thank the survivors who are here today and their families, their caregivers,” Paisley said.

Paisley said he joined BIAK after someone closed to him experienced a brain injury.

“I had a friend who that had suffered a brain injury. He went through three major brain surgeries and full brain radiation. Unfortunately, has since passed, but I was looking for another opportunity at the time and Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky came up, and having walked through that journey with him, it seemed like a perfect fit for me,” Paisley said.

Connie Carfielt shares a similar experience. She and her family have attended every Brain Walk and Roll event since the lost her daughter to a brain tumor in 2020.

Carfielt said her family has made this a reunion of remembrance.

“We make a shirt every year, a different one every year. Her aunt, her sister, her kids, my aunts, friends [are here],” Carfielt said.

Everyone at this event had someone to show up for. As the crowd lapped the track, attendees sported homemade signs, shirts, hats, banners and more to support their loved ones afflicted.

This organization has been supporting Kentuckians for over 40 years through advocacy, education and financial assistance.

“Some of the work we do, and the core of what we do, is we do hospital outreach where we reach out to people who have sustained a brain injury right there in the hospital at UofL Health, Norton, Frazier, before they ever leave and try to provide them with resources and support where they know what to do when they’re discharged,” Paisley said.

Paisley he is proud to see the impact BIAK has had on the people they have reached.

“You know, I’ve seen a lot of people today, or several anyway, that- last year, when they were at the event, they were in a chair and being rolled through the event,” He said. “Today they were actually walking the event. So that’s very inspiring.”

The Brain Walk and Roll event raises money for BIAK to fund support programs for prevention, education, advocacy, service and financial assistance to those who need it.

They reached just over $37,000 of their $50,000 goal, however, organizers said they are always accepting donations.