High-flying broadcaster Clemency Burton-Hill was robbed of basic abilities after a brain haemorrhage. This film about her recovery is brutal, raw – and full of gut-wrenching moments that have nothing to do with the injury
The first time we encounter the writer and presenter Clemency Burton-Hill in this Arena documentary, she is in full, fluent, broadcasterly flow, promoting her new book on classical music, Year of Wonder. The next time we see her, she is struggling to spell her own name. The former clip is from 2017, the latter while Burton-Hill was recovering from the brain haemorrhage she suffered in January 2020 at 38 years old.
My Brain: After the Rupture covers the two years after Burton-Hill’s brain injury. She begins recording herself in her hospital bed, having clearly grasped the journalistic potential of documenting such a life-altering event. She tries to speak, but much of what she says is incomprehensible: she can remember most words, but has lost the ability to actually say them. Her terror and despair, however, is crystal clear. “I don’t know that this is going to be OK,” she eventually manages to utter, her voice wavering violently.
