A medical, legal, and
informational resource
for persons dealing with
traumatic brain injury.

STORIES OF AMAZING RECOVERIES

Submitted By: Gerald Whitworth
Telephone: 918.322.3469
Email: gerald.whitworth@cox.net

On June 10, 2006 I was riding my motorcycle on a rural highway at 65mph. I was following a pickup truck on the highway. The driver of the pickup, who I later learned was unlicensed, slammed on the brakes to make a turn. The pickup had no brake lights or turn signals. I was unable to stop my motorcycle before hitting the rear of the pickup truck. I was ejected from the motorcycle, flew about 30 feet and landed in the oncoming lane of traffic. I was not wearing a motorcycle helmet at the time. My head crashed onto the pavement. I lay on the pavement for about 30 minutes before an ambulance could arrive and load me for transport to the nearest hospital.

At the hospital a CAT scan was performed and it was found that my brain was swelling and I was bleeding on my brain. My wife, who was following me on her motorcycle and managed to stop in time, was told that they needed to transport me to a hospital in a larger city to get the trauma care that I required, but that I would probably not survive the flight. The doctor told my wife that if I was lucky enough to survive long enough to get to the trauma center that I would probably be paralyzed, lose function from the graphic side of my brain and would require long term care. The decision was made to go ahead and load me onto a helicopter for a flight to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I did survive the flight and was placed into a drug-induced coma upon arrival.

I was kept in the coma for three days and then allowed to awaken. The bleeding had stopped and the swelling was going away, but I was having severe headaches, disorientation and of course was also having pain from the broken collarbone, broken ribs, skull fracture and knee injuries that I had also received in the crash.

Six days after the accident I walked out of the hospital under my own power. The headaches continued for a couple of weeks as the swelling continued to go down and the subdural hematoma was absorbed. I met with my neurologist a few times, MRI and CAT scans were performed and except for a bit of scar tissue my brain appears to be back to normal. I did have a bout with vertigo for a month or two, but that is now gone.

It's now been a little over 6 months since the accident and I still experience a loss of smell and taste along with some short term memory loss, but these are minor problems to deal with considering the original doctor's diagnosis on the day of the wreck. My collarbone and ribs have mended and I am currently recovering from knee surgery. It took 5 months for my motorcycle to be re-built, but I now have it back and am riding once again. These days I wear a brand new helmet, but enjoy riding my motorcycle more than ever.

My taste and smell have not returned, but I can taste sweet, sour, salty and bitter and as long as I eat food with these tastes I can enjoy many foods. Everything else just tastes very bland and is not enjoyable. Barbecue has become one of my favorite foods, but I have to drown it with sauce. The sauce has a sweet and sour taste so I can taste something when I eat it. Chinese food tastes salty with enough soy sauce and of course the sweet & sour sauce has a taste to me so I like Chinese food more now. Steak is good if I can pour enough A-1 steak sauce on it.

I have learned to carry a pen and notepad with me to compensate for my inability to remember things as well as I used to. I don't go shopping without a list. There is always a workaround for the problems. I'm very thankful to be able to find solutions to the problems brought on by my brain trauma. It could have been much, much worse.