Auto Accident – A Traumatic Brain Injury and the Road to Recovery

On a typical summer afternoon in July, a 17-year old (who we will refer to as Aaron) was enjoying a drive home from school with two of his friends. He was a passenger in the front seat, engaged in conversation with one of his friends that were sitting behind him, unaware that the course of their summer was about to change drastically. The driver unexpectedly lost control of the vehicle and slammed into the guardrail. Aaron was not restrained with a seat belt during the car accident and suffered numerous severe injuries. He and his friends lost consciousness upon initial impact, and slowly regained it while emergency responders rushed to the scene. Aaron spent six days at the hospital where he was treated for a concussion, spinal injury (C7 endplate fracture), a fracture of the orbital floor, contusions, and a collapsed lung (pneumothorax).While Aaron slowly recovered from his physical injuries, complications began to emerge as a result of his traumatic brain injury. Aaron struggled to perform daily tasks. His family disclosed that he also began to suffer from depression and anxiety due to the car accident, and he had difficulties with his memory, and word finding.After being contacted by Aaron’s family, our Case Manager quickly scheduled an initial assessment with him and attended his first rehabilitation appointment. After the evaluation, she also referred him to our Educational Consultant, Jennifer. Jennifer learned that prior to his accident, he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and she was able to advocate for the creation of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for Aaron based on his past and current disabilities. The plan supports his new academic needs for success for the school year.In spite of Aaron’s traumatic experience, he has a promising future ahead of him. He plans to pursue a career in Criminal Justice after graduation and continues to make great progress during his rehabilitation process. After hearing about Aaron’s story and the services provided to him by our Case Manager, one of Aaron’s doctors began to see the need for case management services for a number of his clients. He has since been able to improve the recoveries of many others.To talk to someone about case management, just call: 877.538.5425