My son suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in 2006, at the age of 18, after he fell asleep at the wheel of his car and rolled it seven times.
Similar to other families, we were initially told that Austin would likely not survive and if he did, he could remain in a vegetative state. Austin spent 5 months in an inpatient hospital, of which 3 of those months were in a coma. He continued his recovery in outpatient rehabilitation and then an all-day rehabilitation program for 3 years.
Even before he was discharged from the inpatient hospital setting, it became evident that my son, as well as our family, had a long, uncertain road ahead of us. After 23 years in the mortgage and escrow industry, I became Austin’s full-time caregiver. Austin literally had to relearn everything all over again – as if he was a newborn baby growing up. From holding up his head, swallowing, chewing, drinking, saying words, crawling then taking steps, to walking with a walker and then on his own. Learning how to say his ABC’s, write his name, and memorize important things like his address and phone number. Along with taking on the caregiver role, I also became very involved in the brain-injured community attending many support groups and educational conferences. I took the opportunity to tell our story and share our experiences. In 2008 I was invited to be on the Board of Directors of the Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona (BIAAZ) where I served until 2012. In that same year, a group of family members from the inpatient rehab facility came together to create “BrainSTAR” which worked together to help raise awareness and funds for brain injury. We created a fundraising event that we had in March of 2009 called “BrainSTAR Bowl-a-thon” and raised nearly $13,000. Funds were distributed between the Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona and St. Joseph’s Hospital/Barrow Neurologic Institute to help with the funding of a neurorehabilitation therapy pool. Funds were also given to St. Joseph’s Research Department, and the Center for Transitional Neurorehabilitation for a new treadmill, video/educational supplies, and garden setup supplies. BIAAZ created Bowl for Brain Injury and I helped in an organizational role with our original group of survivors and family members at the Mesa location of Bowl for Brain Injury for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012 in which we raised over $141,000.00.
I began an activity group for young adult survivors and their family members in 2009 after constantly hearing from both survivors and family members that their social network had disappeared. These survivors and family members shared that people just “don’t get it”. “It” meaning brain injury and the fact that the survivor did not feel comfortable around their old friends as the “new” person they had become due to the challenges they face on a daily basis.
In 2014, along with the help of two women, Tara Pepiton, Linda Countryman, and I worked together to form the nonprofit We’reMOVING FORWARD! I firmly believe in the organization’s mission. I feel that socialization itself is a vital part of life. In most cases, this is the number one thing missing in the life of a survivor after any type of injury to the brain. October 14, 2020, we celebrated our 6th year as a nonprofit and remain an all-volunteer organization. All funds raised are used towards facilitating activities and events for adult survivors and their family members. Our main fundraiser is our Annual Social Bowl & Auction.
Through this experience, I have found volunteering in the community is how I continue to share our story. As a Barrow Connector, I help to bridge the gap between hospital and community for survivors of brain injury and their families. Volunteering with Arizona Adaptive Watersports
gives people of all ages and abilities the opportunity to experience adaptive equipment to participant in a wide variety of watersports activities.
My family’s journey through brain injury has brought my story back to Austin’s ongoing success. For 10 years Austin has worked part-time for a wonderful family that own an air conditioning business. They took a chance on him and hired Austin to work part-time in accounts payable. Austin also volunteers for Mercy Gilbert/Dignity Health and as an ambassador for Arizona Disabled Sports and as a Barrow Connector. He enjoys attending We’re Moving Forward activities, participates in various sports with Arizona Disabled Sports including air rifle, bowling, cycling and kayaking, rock-climbing, and yoga at Ability360 Arizona Adaptive Watersports sends him wakeboarding, using a mono-ski, outrigger ski, tubing, kayaking, fishing and boat rides. Austin enjoys target practice and kayaking with The Next Step Peer Mentoring & More and he still attends various support groups.
Each journey is unique. ANY journey can be filled with fear and anxiety mixed with a great deal of joy and happiness. My journey through brain injury has been filled with lots of new friends – survivors and their family members, some of the most incredible resilient people you would ever want to meet. We have shared tears, laughter, and smiles – but mostly laughter and smiles!