(William) "Doug"

douglesw@insightbb.com

In July of 1982 I fell from a three story roof and suffered an injury to my brain stem. I was comatose for five weeks, but the first memory I could recall was three weeks later. I still have some short term memory challenges and learning new subject matter can be difficult. I returned to a productive life in 1987. When I was first injured, I spent eight weeks in a hospital, five weeks at an inpatient rehab and a few more weeks at an outpatient rehab facility. A huge step in my personal recovery was to accept the fact that I could not be the same person that I was before the fall. Before the accident, I had been married just over two years, so my wife also had to get used to the new me. Her love was tough yet she showed me that I needed to work at my recovery and not to quit when the going got tough. This important step let me see that I could be reborn and that I could become an even better husband and father. I have also learned that every event in a person's life can be used to build up or tear down that same life. You are responsible for your own life and whatever comes your way. Some people may seem to have a better "lot in lofe" but you can always find those many who are much worse.