Kevin Lewis
My brain injury journey began in July 1988 while riding my bicycle. A car tried to pass me but had to get back in behind me to avoid an oncoming car in the opposite lane. The front right of the car struck my rear bike tie propelling me in the air. My head and body bounced off the car’s windshield and I landed in a field. I was 15 and was supposed to take my driver’s permit test later that day. I had several musculoskeletal injuries as well as a TBI, which put me into a coma. The coma lasted 2 weeks and it took me another 2 months before I was told about the accident.
I played basketball and baseball and was an honor roll student but could no longer compete on the high school teams and struggled with memory and understanding classes. Being a teenager, it was easy to struggle as my peers were, to some extent, struggling to learn about life at the same time. I was not aware of how delayed my mental processing was although I felt something was off. I knew I was not ready for college, so I asked for and was given a 5th year of high school to get better prepared. I struggled at home in a house of 4 children because I could not do my chores and do things as fast as my older and younger siblings. I was in great physical shape and was constantly told that I was fine and fully recovered. I went away to college to get away from the demands and expectations at home. I took a full-time class schedule and failed the first term. I learned from my failure adjusted the next term and repeated some classes. After the adjustments, I was able to finish the 1st year with a 3.75 GPA. This would become a cycle that would repeat throughout my life.
I graduated from college 23 years after starting, but I now have 2 bachelor’s degrees and am currently working on my Master’s. I tried to live with roommates, tried being social, tried marriage, and failed at all 3. I learned, through failure, that I am not fully recovered and not “normal”. I am not a failure though. I am a brain injury survivor and have had to make my life journey work for me. I have no regrets as I love my career and living on my own. My brain injury journey has been rough but I am better because of the brain injury.