Traumatic Brain Injury is a personal issue for me. Within 18 months, both my son and daughter were in accidents which required them to be medic-flighted to the hospital with TBI. In 2002, Christopher took a dramatic dive off his skateboard while traveling down a very steep street—he was showing off for the Japanese exchange students hanging around the church at the bottom of the hill. He made quite an impression. Of course, being immortal (as all fourteen-year-old boys think they are) he didn’t bother to gear up with helmet or pads, and he was wearing a silky shirt, shorts and sandals. So very cool.
Three days in the hospital with two skull fractures and months of headaches and mood swings made him smarter. He discovered that he wouldn’t be allowed to take part in P.E. his freshman year of high school because another hit on the head could result in death. The P.E. teacher didn’t want the responsibility—and who could blame him? This accident occurred only a couple weeks after the wake-boarding accident in which Christopher was taken to the emergency room in need of stitches. Five months earlier, he had a snowboarding accident where he nearly fractured his wrist. Christopher was done with the daredevil stunts after that. Thankfully.
But it was Nikki’s accident (seventeen months later) that really impacted the family. Only a few weeks after her 18th birthday, she was t-boned on her drive to college to complete the finals for her first semester. She did not sustain any broken bones or open wounds—just a cut above one eye. Her head trauma was a closed wound that resulted in a week-long coma, weeks of inpatient rehabilitation and months of outpatient therapy. Once Nikki came out of the coma on Christmas Day (2003) she was like a newborn who had to relearn everything from the ground up.
And it was this accident that inspired my upcoming novel Illusions. If you’ve been following my blog posts, you probably already know that. When I wrote Illusions, I didn’t know that we’d soon have a multitude of soldiers coming home from war with TBI issues, nor did I expect it to become a popular football injury. I guess you could say I was ahead of my time. I just had to wait until God’s time before it could be published.
Over Christmas, my husband Chris videotaped five short interview segments of Nikki and me. I hope you’ll watch the first segment and realize, as I did, that inspiration often comes from the darkest days of our lives.
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I can’t wait for the next one. It is great to see Nikki. I haven’t seen her for a couple of years. I am really looking forward to this next book. After the first one, you are definitely on my favorite author’s list.
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I think you’re prejudice, but I appreciate your encouragement and support!