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Coma Recovery Association, Inc.
Last summer was my 20th high school reunion. My emotions were running high as I prepared to return to Baldwin, New York for the festivities. I had a wonderful time in high school, but the event that colors most of my high school memories, as well as impacted the rest of my life; was the tragic car accident I was in during my senior year. February 17, 1978 I suffered a brain injury in that car accident that also killed my best friend. I was comatose for one month in the intensive care unit at South Nassau Communities Hospital, followed by one month of intensive inpatient physical therapy. To this day I thankfully have no memory of the accident, but I do have wonderful memories of the people who played an enormous part in the long and difficult recovery process. Dr. Dimancescu and his colleagues guided the treatment plan. The Coma Recovery Association didn’t exist yet, but luckily Dr. Dimancescu’s coma recovery theories did. The nurses who cared for me in the hospital were a great inspiration to me. They showed me how nurses don’t only care for a patient’s physical needs, but the emotional, social and spiritual ones as well. The nurses were always a great sense of support for my parents, who were spending as much, if not more time at the hospital than they were at home. I went through physical therapy for one year and a half after my release from the hospital. I was released from the hospital in a wheel chair, as I had to learn to walk all over again. The physical therapy was grueling and often times tedious, but the therapists were always upbeat and shared in the joy of my accomplishments as I progressed. Even with the best doctors, nurses and therapists, I don’t think I could have made it without the support and love of my wonderful friends and incredible family. The high school years are marked by a need for peer acceptance. The whole time I was in the hospital my friends let me know how much they loved me and supported me in my recovery. At my reunion last year one of my classmates recalled my emotional walk across the football field to pick up my diploma on graduation day. I walked with the assistance of my friend since first grade, and was supported by my class of 680 who gave me a thunderous ovation. My parents and brother were in the audience balling their eyes out, as I accepted my diploma. My family sacrificed more than I’ll ever know through this whole process, always letting me know that they loved me and would stop at nothing to see me fully recover. After high school graduation I didn’t feel I was physically or emotionally ready for college. I put college off for a year while I was still receiving out-patient physical therapy. At the end of the summer of 1979 they finally discharged me from the physical therapy and I was off to Boston College to pursue an education in nursing. Walking around the Boston College campus, full of hills and stairs was really just like physical therapy. I can still remember seeing those beautiful old Gothic buildings with those long, long stairways that had NO handrails and being filled with terror. I still had a lot of physical challenges, but I survived and graduated with a nursing degree in 1983. I often refer to my head injury as my life changing event. I knew even before I entered nursing school that my career focus was now going to be in trauma counseling. I received a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Arizona State University in 1987 and have worked with families and patients in the hospital and the emergency room who have suffered a trauma. Another way this event has changed my life is how I hold on to friendships. A good friend is truly a treasure. I still miss my friend who was killed in the car accident and am forever grateful to those who have been there for me when I needed it the most. Words cannot express my appreciation of my family. I’ll never know how hard this experience was on them emotionally and physically. Lastly, this event has changed my life by showing me that I’m a survivor! I have been to Hell and back, and now know there isn’t much I can’t handle. At the end of the Disney movie "Mulan" there was a quote that meant a lot to me, so I wrote it down and hung it on my refrigerator. "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all." I hope you are all still blooming like a spring garden! All my love, Copyright © 1999, 2000, * Sandy Deutsch
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