This week on Disability Matters, John Comiskey speaks with Reinhard Schäler, CEO and founder of the SAOL Foundation, an organisation created out of one family’s determination to change what support looks like for people living with severe acquired brain injury (sABI) in Ireland.
A Family Story That Sparked a National Conversation
Reinhard’s son, Padraig, had just completed his degree in Irish and History at Trinity College and travelled to Cape Cod for a final summer before graduation. Only weeks into his stay, he was struck by a truck while cycling to work.
The accident left him with a severe acquired brain injury.
“When we came home, we were sure there must be services for people like him,” Reinhard explains. “We looked everywhere. We thought we simply weren’t looking hard enough. But eventually, we realised: there were no services for people with long-term effects of severe brain injury.”
Meeting other families in similar situations pushed the Schalers to act—not just for Padraig, but for everyone facing this gap.
They founded what is now the SAOL Foundation (formerly the An Saol Foundation).
Building What Didn’t Exist
Reinhard and his family approached government, and then-Minister for Health Simon Harris agreed to support a three-year pilot project.
In 2020, they opened the SAOL Centre in Santry, providing structured, long-term, person-centred support for people whose needs had been described by the system as “too complex” or whose chance of recovery was considered “insufficient.”
Independent international experts later reviewed the pilot and concluded:
- the service is necessary,
- it is high-quality,
- and it should be expanded nationally.
“A Brain Injury Affects the Whole Family”
Severe brain injury does not impact one person—it affects parents, siblings, friends, and entire communities.
Reinhard describes the moment he saw his son in ICU for the first time:
“It felt like someone pulled the chain on an old toilet cistern—everything in my body just drained out through my feet.”
For many families, this shock is followed by years of navigating a complex system that still lacks coordinated pathways for long-term rehabilitation.
The Hidden Numbers
There are no official Irish statistics.
Based on UK comparisons, experts estimate:
- 25 people in Ireland each year sustain a severe acquired brain injury with long-term effects.
- Since Padraig’s accident, that means roughly 300 young people are now living somewhere in Ireland with similar needs—often unsupported.
Reinhard recalls meeting a 19-year-old whose family contacted SAOL just days before he was due to be placed in a nursing home.
This is despite long-standing government commitments to stop placing young people in such settings.
“It’s beyond comprehension,” he says. “I don’t know how policymakers sleep at night.”
A System Described as “Dysfunctional”
Reinhard is clear:
The issue is not lack of compassion from individual staff, but a system that simply does not work.
Politicians acknowledge the scandal of young people in nursing homes—yet solutions like SAOL struggle for implementation.
Their proposed campus, Teach SAOL, would include:
- a social hub,
- a therapy hub,
- a respite hub,
- and temporary assisted living units.
Land has been secured in Ballymun and planning work done pro bono by major firms—but delays mean that Phase 1 alone may take nearly a decade.
“If Phase 1 takes that long, I won’t see Phase 2 in my lifetime.”
What Happens at SAOL Day-to-Day
The SAOL Centre operates Monday to Friday and focuses on three key areas of wellbeing:
1. Body:
- physical exercise,
- robot-assisted gait training (the only accessible devices of their kind in Ireland),
- personalised mobility support.
2. Mind:
- cognitive stimulation,
- alternative communication support,
- technologies enabling expression and participation.
3. Soul:
- music therapy,
- massage and holistic therapies,
- quiet, relaxed spaces focused on wellbeing.
New participants begin with an assessment and a 2–3 month trial period. Those who join can remain for as long as they need—for some, that will be for life.
“The System Had Given Up on Them—and We Proved Them Wrong”
Every core participant at SAOL was once told there were no further options for them.
Reinhard recalls one case where a consultant wrote that a young man needed no further intervention beyond “being kept comfortable”—a phrase Reinhard recognises as “another word for palliative care.”
Today, that same young man stands at a Swedish ladder, talks about his love of horse racing and Liverpool FC, and complains (like any of us) when exercises get tough.
“He has a life worth living,” Reinhard says. “Not every day is perfect—but that’s true for all of us.”
Padraig Today: Milestones That Matter
Padraig himself continues to grow and participate in life:
- He became one of the champions of Ireland’s Assisted Decision-Making Act.
- He earned his first ever salary as an adult.
- He travels with his family, including a long-awaited trip to Alaska.
- He is collaborating with his sister and a friend on a film project.
- He communicates, jokes, expresses preferences—and rejects his dad’s “German dad jokes.”
“He’s living a life,” Reinhard says. “Not the life he planned, but a life with joy, connection, and meaning.”
📍 Learn more about the An SAOL Foundation: ansaol.ie
This interview aired on Disability Matters with John Comiskey on 92.5 Phoenix FM, a programme produced by Blanchardstown Centre for Independent Living (BCIL).
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