A Family’s Journey
A Lesson to Show me How Good Life is
A man, a son, living with Traumatic Brain Injury
Hello, my name is Marcus Hart and I have a traumatic brain injury (TBI). My life has changed completely. Before my accident, I played basketball, danced, sang and was pursuing a future as a Barber. But on February 12, 2016, I was in a bad car accident. I stayed in the hospital for 4 months and after my parents brought me home to live with them, I had to learn how to talk again, still working on walking, singing and other simple things like making a sandwich. It has been a long, hard journey from classes of occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT) to speech & language pathology (SLP) therapy, but I’m coming along every day. And because my parents who didn’t give up on me, and still push and support me to do better, I can honestly say having this injury is not so bad. I have services from Medicaid, there’s been many other services, including the TBI Waiver, so I’m determined to not let the TBI control my life. Instead, I embrace it and let it be a lesson to show me how good life is. I was dead, but now I’m here, living with a TBI, but I’m happy.
A Reward to See the Progress
A mother, a caregiver, of a person living with brain injury
My son, Marcus’, injury from a car accident has changed our lives forever. It was in February 2016 and my husband and I decided after coming home from 4 months of being in the hospital, that he would live with us. There was no way he was going to live in a facility. So, I quit my job, while my husband worked two full 8-hour jobs (18 months until the one job moved out of state) so that I could stay home and help Marcus to sustain a better quality of life. Being a caregiver can be tiring, because you want to make sure his every need is met, so somewhere in the pursuit, you forget about yourself. But with the services he gets from doing everything I was asked to do for Marcus, he is doing exceptionally well considering his deficits from the accident, and I am getting some sort of life for myself back. It was a long tough road, and a challenge learning the person he has become with a TBI and dealing with the deficits he has now. But with everything we’ve been through, the tiredness, the sleepless nights, anxiety, missed opportunities because of his needs, it is SO rewarding to see where he was from the beginning to where he is now.
Written By:
Marcus Hart
Survivor
Melveria Hart
Caregiver
