Toni Burkholder
On 8/27/2010 – my son Mark suffered a severe TBI from what was supposed to be a fun Friday night hanging out with his brother and friends. He was holding onto a moving car while riding a skate board – lost his balance and his head hit the pavement in our neighborhood. What looked to be a severe concussion would turn into a severe traumatic brain injury in a matter of about 8 hours. He was rushed to Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He was awake and conscious when he got there but over the next several hours his brain would begin to swell and he was rushed into surgery for a craniotomy. It happened too late – the damage had been done while he was lying there. He would spend the next 6 months in the hospital starting in the ICU, then the step down unit, then to rehab, then back to the ICU, then to Ohio State University Medical Center for a liver transplant that ended up not being needed, and then back to rehab.
Mark has 4 siblings – quadruplets who are 1 1/2 years older than he is. Mark’s injury changed his life forever as it changed his siblings and his parents and friends lives forever. The up and down daily battle of a TBI is brutal and never ending.
For the last 13 1/2 years – we have spent every day trying to overcome all of the obstacles that are thrown at you from a TBI. Mark’s recovery has been good relatively speaking. However, he can not live independently because of short term memory issues, cognitive delays, and communication issues.
I have shared a video we did showing his first year of recovery. This is only a small piece of the story. He faces obstacles every day including a lack of qualified caregivers who understand TBI and how to take care of him. The stories are endless. So many things have gone wrong and yet Mark continues to smile and be my ray of hope in this terrible journey. I am grateful for his survival and thank God he is here. I wouldn’t wish this journey on anyone. https://youtu.be/8yGmV5s5YYE?si=0fCSJdjHNsLzCyLB
There is so much we do not know and so much that needs to be done.