During a high school playoff game, I was fouled while going up for a lay-up and slammed my head on the hardwood floor.
I was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with a major concussion. During the MRI, doctors noticed a “shadow” on my cerebellum that required consistent monitoring to ensure it didn't grow.
I sought out one of the best neurologists in New York and ended up at Columbia Presbyterian in Manhattan.
My name is Breanna, and I am pursuing my MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience and Human Neuroimaging at the University of Sheffield. In 2021, I experienced an ischemic pontine stroke, which completely transformed my life.
I had a massive stroke that affected my left brain. I was healthy, going out, taking care of my two kids and a husband, and working full time. Out of the blue, I fell back to my bed and slumped down to the floor. I thought...‘oh my, this is going to be it’.
My name’s Johnny, and I suffered a life-threatening brainstem bleed/pontine hemorrhage back in the summer of 2021. After, I was put in an induced coma for two weeks with a not-so-great prognosis of survival. My family and children were told to expect the worst: that I may not wake and if I was to come around, I would be in a vegetative state for the rest of my life with just eye movement and slight face or oral movement!
James shouldn't even be alive, let alone be able to walk and talk, after an accident in a Paris hotel left his brain so crushed that doctors were forced to remove part of his skull and store it in his abdomen to keep the bone marrow healthy.
Having suffered with anxiety most of my life, and particularly badly for the past couple of years, the diagnosis of my aneurysm in October 2023 hit me hard. I was already in a bad place with my mental health.
I am Kelly, a brain injury survivor and caregiver to a daughter who sustained a traumatic brain injury at age three as the result of a car accident. My daughter's injury was life-threatening, and the diagnosis was immediate, even though the prognosis was not. My injury wasn't diagnosed until we returned home following her in-patient rehabilitation.
Hi, my name is Evgenia. In 2008, my life took an unexpected turn when I became a survivor of a near-fatal car crash. The aftermath left me with a multi-fragmentary fracture, extensive soft-tissue damage, clinical death, transient global amnesia and retinal detachment.
In January 2021, I had been feeling off for a while. I went to see an ophthalmologist. From that point on, it all went very fast. He sent me to get a brain MRI the same day, then I was sent straight to the university hospital. They had identified a 35 mm (about 1.38 in) aneurysm in my brain.
Aged 33, I was hit by a racing bike that skipped the lights whilst I was crossing the road. I was almost home when it happened. I remember recognising that an impact was imminent and seeing the white of the rider's eyes. After hitting my head, I only recall being picked out of the road by a stranger; the rider was gone.