New BBC Documentary Follows Violinist Clemency Burton-Hill's Recovery from Brain Hemorrhage

"My Brain: After the Rupture" features broadcaster and musician Clemency Burton-Hill as she works toward re-gaining elements of her pre-injury self

The BBC has released a new documentary that follows the recovery of Clemency Burton-Hill, a broadcaster and musician, following a traumatic brain haemorrhage. Titled My Brain: After the Rupture, the documentary covers the two years following the injury, which occurred in 2020.

Following the haemorrhage, Burton-Hill — who was then a 38-year-old mother of two — was in a coma for seventeen days and underwent a surgery that involved the removal of a significant portion of her skull. Shortly after she became conscious again, she began taking video footage of her recovery, and the idea for the documentary was born.

Burton-Hill had studied violin with Rodney Friend at the Royal College of Music, before studying English Literature at Cambridge. She began her broadcasting career in 2008, presenting the BBC Proms and working in classical music broadcasting across the BBC.

Burton-Hill is also the author of several novels and a book on music titled Another Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Every Day.

"Unlike most brain injury survivors, I had a platform, or knew how to get the wheels turning, in terms of telling people how something like this could happen," Burton-Hill told The Guardian. "I also had this very strong sense of wanting to do something useful for the community of people who have had brain injuries, especially as we still don’t know what is going to happen to me ultimately, or anyone else."

You can view an excerpt from the documentary below.

Image credit: BBC