Akiva Penaloza

My experience with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) begins with my brother-in-law George.
Close to midnight on Easter Sunday, my sister Rebecca received a call that would change her life forever: her husband, George, fell asleep at the wheel of his truck on a lonely stretch of dark highway in the Arizona desert. The crash was catastrophic. Severely brain damaged from the brutal truck accident, George clung to life as he lay in a coma for a solid month. Minute by agonizing minute, time passed until one day he opened his eyes. But it took months to get him home and when he did get home, he wasn’t just mentally injured, he was physically altered.

He shuffled, grunted, and went unshaven. His hair became greasy and grew long. Deep scars were on each side of his head, with staples and a shunt in his skull.
His spirits low, he was profoundly pained to look at himself in the mirror. Finally, my sister convinced George that he was well enough to get a haircut and a shave. She took him to a Mexican barbershop in Phoenix. There was magic in the shop that day. When the barber was finished, for the first time since his accident, George saw himself as the vibrant man he once was. A simple act can change a life forever.

To honor George, I wrote and am producing Awakening Georgie, a short film about a major trauma that turned into a minor miracle. Second in a trilogy of films about my Mexican family, the film chronicles the beginning of a long comeback through the simple but redeeming act of getting a haircut and a shave. Through something so normal, George and his family experienced hope on his long road to recovery. This would help them fill the chasm left in George’s mind.

As George took his first steps on the long road to healing, we had a lot to learn about TBI. Like George, my life was once on hold, as if I were in a coma, when I was hospitalized with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. My entire life came to a stop. I lived a life of quiet desperation, but with the help of others, I triumphed over tragedy. Through that, I found endurance and gained a depth of compassion and understanding for those struggling with a TBI. I bring that depth to this film so it can be both of our stories. An exquisite little film about the courage of first steps, it is now told through the female perspective of Georgie.

Awakening Georgie is much richer than just the tale of George’s recovery. It’s a multi-layered tale about my Mexican heritage and a vibrant community that unites to care for one of our own. Interwoven in the story is a tale of class, color, family, and the resilience of immigrants.

George is thriving. He just turned 70 and, though impaired, his happiness is infectious. He is a deeply loved pillar of our family. He’s filled with joy and the wonder of life. His story of recovery saved me. And I want to honor him and anyone who has experienced a TBI by bringing this story to life. With this fascinating story of transformation, I yearn to help others with TBI. Through the lens of a resilient family steeped in a strong Mexican culture, I offer hope along the arduous road to recovery.
If we can do it, indeed, Si, Se Puede!