This is a special in-depth look at traumatic brain injury (TBI) during Brain Awareness Month.
by Amanda Marie Cardinale
“‘Right after the hit I was in the back of the ambulance feeling really good, letting go of all my problems… the world seemed so far away,’ Keith explains of his near-death experience.
“‘I could hear the EMT screaming — he said he thought he lost me — but it sounded like I was in a bubble. The feeling reached an amazing point where if I already had done the things that I wanted with my life, I would have let go.’
“He points out the injuries on his face, including an eye patch that he wears since his motorcycle crash last summer. An outgoing and successful 30-year-old software engineer, the traumatic brain injury (TBI) from his accident caused brain swelling that left him with cranial nerve damage and other life-altering symptoms. His ambulance experience may have been part of the hallucinations that occur as your brain and body are failing, but Keith looks back at that moment as much more.
“‘The day before the accident my thoughts were around needing more money, getting a bigger place, getting more girls – things that don’t matter. I was in typical young, single guy mode,’ he says openly.
