Category Archives: Self-Advocacy

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Chicken Soup for the Soul

From a TBI Meltdown Comes New Hope

Sometimes reality taps you on the shoulder with a velvet glove, while at other times reality hits you more like a sledge hammer.

It was on a cold, overcast November day in 2010 that a teenage driver struck me while I was cycling. My bike sustained significant damage. My bike was not the only casualty that day as my brain sustained significant damage as well. There is nothing pretty about being broadsided by a car at 30+ MPH. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE CHICKEN SOUP for the SOUL

Self-Advocacy, Techniques,

The force of the impact was incredible.  Glass shattered around me, raining down everywhere.  The sickening, crunching sound of metal was deafening and I felt myself spinning.

big-champ-ribbon

I saw the taillights in front of me disappear and then the headlights of the cars that were behind me were heading at me; and so nit continued.  I was spinning forever, it seemed.  I was saying a silent prayer.  I was wishing blessings on my family and friends because I knew I was about to die.  There was no pain, I was surprised.  That would come later, I was to learn.  It was amazing just how many thoughts went through my head in that seemingly very small amount of time.  The noise stopped and the spinning stopped.  It was quiet; too quiet.  My thoughts were thrust into darkness, and then they drifted to a simpler time, one filled with comforting memories of a lifetime of striving for the ultimate goal of Olympic gold. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE