Influencer couple Katherine Smith<\/b> and Benjamin Finlan<\/b> have called it quits.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAfter 11.5 years of loving, enduring, surviving, and growing side by side, Ben and I made the mutual decision earlier this year to end our romantic relationship,\u201d Smith and Finlan wrote in a joint Instagram<\/span><\/a> statement on Saturday, April 4. \u201cWe know this may come as a shock to many. For us, it isn\u2019t. It\u2019s something we\u2019ve quietly grieved for quite some time.\u201d<\/p>\n They added, \u201cThere is no scandal. No fracture. Just two people who have shared more in a decade than many do in a lifetime, quietly acknowledging that love can change shape.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Finlan, he was unsure how to \u201cwalk away from the girl [he believed] saved\u201d his life after he suffered a traumatic brain injury<\/a> (TBI) in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t. You carry it with you: the history, the resilience, the versions of yourselves that only existed because the other was there,\u201d the statement added. \u201c[We] are forever bonded by hospitals and hope, by youth and understanding, by battles fought and won. That doesn\u2019t disappear just because the romance does.\u201d<\/p>\n Finlan was allegedly attacked in London in 2018, resulting in a TBI \u2014 a \u201cdisruption in brain function caused by a blow, jolt or piercing injury to the head, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders.<\/span><\/a> The Canadian influencer comatose for one week and underwent multiple surgeries to remove parts of his skull. After flying home to Canada nearly two months later, Finlan was hospitalized again.<\/p>\n \u201cI developed something called \u2018syndrome of the trephined\u2019 followed by an infection in my brain and things went downhill fast,\u201d he recalled to Patient Voice<\/span><\/a> in 2023. \u201cI lost everything I\u2019d previously regained. I had a seizure at one point that was so bad, I broke my hip. I ended up needing over 65 surgeries across four years. It was surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith, then 25, became Finlan\u2019s caretaker as he recovered from his severe injury. (Smith and Finlan were four years into their relationship at the time.)<\/p>\n You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so hard being a caregiver for your partner,\u201d she told the outlet. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to infantilize them, but there\u2019s also this pressure to get everything right. It took some trial and error but we\u2019ve found our routine and Ben has become incredibly independent.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>
\n Katherine Smith in the hospital with Ben Finlan after his 2018 injury.<\/span> Courtesy of Katherine Smith\/ Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/themes\/us-weekly\/assets\/img\/newsletter-bg-narrow.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n\nThank You!<\/h3>\n
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