On June 2, 2009, my life changed forever. I had a horrible car accident and was at WakeMed Hospital for five months. I had multiple injuries which included no use of my left arm or hand, very serious vision problems, and a traumatic brain injury. The TBI was the worst. My short-term memory was very poor and I was totally unable to speak. My mother has since told me several times how terrifying that was for me and her and my father. Can you imagine a 26-year-old who could not convey any basic needs to their parents, much less nurses and doctors? After leaving the hospital I spent at least two years on and off in physical, occupational, and speech therapy at WakeMed.
One day, while I was in speech therapy before my discharge in October 2009, my mother asked the therapist, “Rachel will talk again, right?” The response was: “She may say words, possibly short phrases, maybe talking, but maybe not.” My mother never for one moment thought that worst case scenario could happen. She knew I would talk endlessly as I always had! And the great news has been that I’ve started regaining my speech slowly but surely since that time.
About a year after my car accident of June 2009, I started attending the TAP weekly meeting in Cary. Luckily we had met Maura while I was still in the hospital…