Tougher than you think
I was just like every other 18-year-old boy. Happy to have graduated high a couple of weeks
earlier, had the summer planned out and then would start Automotive school in the fall, boy those plans were shot down. On June 10, 2010, I was at my friend’s house and we had been working on his dirt bikes and was planning on going to a birthday party that night to the cutest girl that I had been trying to convince that she just couldn’t live without me . There were four of us looking for a part that had come off and we were on 4-wheelers on the road looking for it. The last thing I remember for a few months was looking over and asking my buddy ‘was he okay’, his dog, Homer, chased us sometimes when we were riding. The next thing I know the dog was sitting in the middle of the road and I was told that I almost had it stopped when I hit the dog. You guessed it – no helmet on. I was told I started flipping end over end where my head would hit the pavement then the 4-wheeler would hit me in the head.
This was one of those moments when it was great to be surrounded by awesome friends. My friend’s mom saw me wreck and came running, as most mom’s do, she put everyone into action. One called 911, one went to get a neighbor who was a First Responder and everyone was helping. LifeFlight was called and they landed at a nearby school and the fight was on. I was flown to the Vanderbilt Trauma Center in Nashville, Tennessee. I had major head/brain injuries, a broken shoulder, punctured lung, broken ribs, torn spleen, about cut my ear off, bleeding from my eyes and ears and lots of road rash. I was in a coma and on life support and not expected to live but a few hours. I had brain bleeds that were inoperable and my mom and dad were told that I wasn’t expected to make it through the next few hours.
Of course, my mom, dad, sister, family and friends were there and prayers were coming in from everywhere from what I was told. The next few days were pretty bad for everyone, I’m glad I didn’t know it. I’m told that you feel no pain when you have massive brain injuries. As my brain kept swelling, a little over half of my skull was broken and parts were shattered. Well, as you can guess, the prayers kept coming in and I slowly started coming back. I am told I did most of the other things that brain injury patients do, sweated, yelled, mumbled (that’s a little dangerous) and one day I gave a thumbs up. I woke up a little more and asked the nurse and my mom ‘is that my momma’.
As you can guess, I kept getting a little better and was able to move to the rehab center. I couldn’t walk, saw double, had trouble swallowing and would repeat myself every five minutes. I was told I couldn’t read ‘run, spot, run’ in a book. I stayed in the Stallworth Rehab Center and the real workout began. I had rehab about four hours a day and slept every minute I could. Dr. Joseph Neimat, who is totally awesome by the way, repaired my skull. It took about eight hours to fix it all. My family noticed as soon as I woke up that my slurred speech was gone. They were told the damage was worse than expected, but that I had done great. Another week in the hospital and I got to go home. At this point, I thought I was fine, that I was good to go….not! I started the real work then, I went to Bill Wilkerson Rehab at Vanderbilt four days a week for the next few months. I learned to really walk straight then, worked on memory skills (because mine was pretty far gone) and complained because I thought I was fine. They played a huge part in my journey to getting back to myself.
I was finished with rehab by this time and I still needed to sleep a lot and was learning to deal with what had happened to me. It is a strange feeling knowing you should be dead, that you were expected to die, but yet there I sat with my headaches every day until another buddy, Jonathan, would get off from work and come get me. I still forgot stuff like crazy, but the more time that went by the better I got. Of course, my family drove me crazy worrying about me like families do. During this time, I gained a new appreciation for fishing with Josh, another one of my friends and learned real quick I had no tolerance for hot or cold anymore. (We fished a lot at night and early in the morning.) It was hard admitting that there were some things I couldn’t remember and that I couldn’t do some of the things I did before.
Now for the good part!!! I was finally able to start school after a year and a half and once again you guessed it! I had to work hard again! As most of you know, focusing is a REAL part of brain injuries. I had to learn again what would work for me. I can honestly say I don’t think I would have stayed in school if I hadn’t had such a great teacher at TTC, Charles Vaughn, in Murfreesboro. In reality, he had my sense of humor and did so much to help me. He was another big step in my recovery. The longer I went to school the better my memory got. I was able to graduate in August, 2013 and I now work full-time as a mechanic.
I know that I am one of the few that made it and can honestly say except for a few minor issues I am great! Just because I was blessed enough to recover doesn’t mean that I take life for granted. I love to duck hunt in Arkansas, still enjoy fishing and just living life. I have been asked a bunch of times, surely you don’t ride 4-wheelers now, and yes, I do, just with more respect. A few months ago I bought a Raz’r, but I did take precautions for my head this time. I hate hearing about people being hurt that has TBI and hearing about how bad they, that they don’t remember or they have other problems going on. My reply is always the same to anyone who is around that says they probably won’t get better. I always say “no one knows what they will be, they don’t know” because I wasn’t supposed to be here, let alone be as good as I am. HE is the only one that knows. (It sucks looking okay on the outside, but still having problems on the inside that other people can’t understand. When I would say “I forgot” I really did forget and couldn’t help it.) And, in case you wondering, I got the girl! She has put up with a lot from me as I recovered too.
I hope that as you read this that you will have a feeling of hope. Even though there are bumps in the road, you still have the journey – that’s the best part. You are stronger than you think!
