A traffic accident involving members of the Detroit Red Wings has put
the subject of living with and recovering from brain injuries on the front
pages of newspapers.  There are many issues which might be worth
discussing involving coping with brain injury in our personal lives and
understanding the needs and circumstances of people we know with this kind
of injury.  

6 responses total.

I follow auto racing, which by nature is prone to this sort of injury.  In
1994, at Michigan Speedway, Ernie Irvan crashed headlong into turn 2 at 160
miles per hour.  The force of the impact gave him a severe closed head injury
without his head actually hitting anything.  He was given a 10% chance of
survival.  Three years later he is still fighting the aftereffects of the
accident but he nonetheless won a race at the track on which he crashed.  It's
inspiring to know.

I should note that many other racers have had similar injuries (most recently
Colwater Michigan native Scott Brayton) and not survived.  At any rate, it
will take a long time to recover.

I don't know what the statistics are overall, but I think this is a common
type of injury.  I know at least two people who have been injured this
way, both in car accidents.  In an article I read about the hockey
accident, it was reported that 50% of this type of brain injuries are
caused by automobile accidents. 

This response has been erased.

TBI   traumatic brain injuries differ from individual to individual but most
common is a limitation of fine motor skills and balance.  A friend of mine
is constantly stopped for DUI but it is really TBI. he drives fine, just waves
within his lane.  To me this is not sufficient reason to remove his drivers
license and thereby his independence.   Any comments??

This response has been erased.

I'm sure we have seen Senior Citizens--and they HAVE the right to drive--weave
on the road too.

Response not possible - You must register and login before posting.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss