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Brain Injury Survivor Works for Rehabilitation of Patients
May 22, 2008

Talk about making lemonade from lemons. One Stratford man is taking his experience of Traumatic Brian Injury to help other survivors like him.

Sears Craig would have had just another ordinary life if it wasn't for a motorcycle accident that occurred twenty years ago. Craig, then an optimistic 20-year-old, was riding his motorcycle, when he was struck by a car and thrown 40 feet. He had no helmet on. His head crashed against the curb, resulting in severe brain injury.

The days after the accident were crucial. Craig was in a coma for a while, and when he woke up, he was at St Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut. From there, he was transferred to Gaylord Rehabilitation Center in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Rehabilitation was a mild term to express the level of relearning that Craig now had ahead of him. His brain injury had left him incapable of performing the most basic activities - how to eat, walk, talk, the basic activities that we take for granted. This was just the beginning of the long struggle ahead for Craig. His blocked memory and other problems brought on by the brain injury meant that he often found himself using his wheelchair to leave the facility. After one outing too many, the center reached the end of its tether and transferred him to a mental health ward.

After months in a mental ward that he didn't belong in, Craig fought and won the right to leave. He moved into his own apartment, but the lack of support and rehabilitation for people with brain injuries like him was a big problem. Craig found himself constantly being discriminated against because of the lack of equilibrium, the slurred speech - all characteristic of brain injuries.

Before long, feeling desperate and out of control of himself, Craig fell into bad company and turned to drugs. The drug use led Craig to a level four, high security prison, where he shared cell space with rapists and murderers. There was absolutely no help for his mental condition, or awareness of it. He was locked up in a tiny cell for five years. When he was released, he became part of a lawsuit brought by people with traumatic brain injuries in the nineties.

Now out of prison, Craig has devoted the rest of his life to raising awareness of traumatic brain injury and the need for rehabilitation and special support for these people. He has collaborated with Goodwill to set up support groups where people suffering from traumatic brain injuries are invited to spend a few hours in the company of others like them, and share experiences and support each other. Away from the isolation of their lives and the company of people who don't understand what it's like to forget how to brush your teeth, or open your car door, these people can learn to cope with their special disability.

Thousands of people suffer brain injuries brought on by accidents every year, especially motorcycle accidents and pedestrian accidents. It takes just a split second for a brain shattering accident to take place, but years before the person can even regain any semblance of their former life.

If you or a loved one has suffered brain injuries in an accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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