I'm telling this on behalf of my sister, who has survived 19 years post TBI.

It was a regular school day for a high school senior. February 28, 1983. Michelle was on her way to school with our neighbor's two daughters. But they never made it. The driver turned into the school in front of a speeding truck. The driver was unhurt, her sister in the front passenger seat was killed on impact. Michelle was pinned in the back seat. She had a broken right leg, right arm, ribs, torn splean and small intestines. But those were minor compared to her brain injury. She was in a coma for six months. The doctors told us she would never survive. But she did.

After many years of therapy, Michelle just celebrated her 37th birthday. She lives in a group home for TBI folks like herself in North Carolina. Though she continues to have siezures and is confined to a wheel chair because of paralysis, she works part-time, and keeps herself busy.

It has been a very long road for our family, but we thank God for her progress and the life we are able to share with her.