Before my car accident and brain injury, I had a busy and full life. I was an involved father of twin boys and worked professionally as a financial crimes investigator. I have no memories of the day of my injury, but based on witness and doctor accounts, I know that while travelling on highway 288, a Herbie trash can flew in front of my car. I swerved to get around it and was t-boned by a trash truck that failed to brake. The car accident left me in a coma for a little over a month and I had severe head trauma.
The Brain Association of Virginia has played an important role in my recovery. They’ve been a great resource! Aside from this, my faith and family were huge in helping me recover. My strategy was knowing that my twin boys needed a great dad and so it was up to me to make that happen. Those boys are my life. My wife and sons have supported me in every way. My wife was especially phenomenal; thanks to her diligence, I was able to get my driver’s license back within the first year after my accident.
My biggest struggle has been recovering my speech. It is not all the way back yet. I’m considering trying a hyperbaric chamber, a treatment where I would be inhaling 100% oxygen to help enhance my body’s natural healing process. It’s possible this could help my speech. Because of my accident and traumatic brain injury, I was the lowest scale you can go, but yet I am still here and able to be alive.