An 18 year old victim of traumatic brain injury has shown true grit and determination to cross the finish line of the Rock N Roll half marathon at Virginia beach recently.
Traumatic injury
During the 2015 Virginia beach half marathon, teenager Greg Kennedy Jr suffered a cardiac arrest and fell to the ground, causing a traumatic brain injury. The injury resulted in Greg becoming paralysed. At the scene of the incident he suffered a “sudden cardiac death” which deprived his body of oxygen for 15 minutes, leaving permanent damage.
While he was resuscitated and kept alive, the toll of the fall was great, as the oxygen deprivation gave him immense difficulty talking, walking, writing and eating among many other everyday tasks. His long road to recovery saw him attend the Kennedy Kreiger institute in Baltimore learning to return to a normal life.
Like many traumatic brain injuries, it required Greg and his family to make big lifestyle changes regarding care and the way he lives. Despite all of this and the fact he is wheelchair bound, he was not deterred from pledging to finish what
he started and retry the marathon with some help from friends and family. Greg made his way through the circuit with a team of helpers before being assisted onto his feet by his immediate family to cross the finish line.
Speaking of the effort, his mother Stephanie said “It’s the highlight of my life being able to help out with this. It was an amazing moment”. The completion of the half marathon is a triumph and a positive message for those who have suffered similarly as this debilitating injury does not have to limit life options or prevent the achievement of goals.
Brain injury aftermath
A traumatic brain injury can and often will leave heavy damage to a sufferer, affecting mobility and movement, cognitive functions and memory. It can also (as evidenced with Greg) affect most basic daily tasks like eating, walking, getting dressed, speaking or writing. When a case of traumatic brain injury comes in to a solicitors like Scott Rees & Co we prioritise the victim’s care and begin to think about the long term plan for treatment, rehabilitation and any alterations to living standards and lifestyle for both the sufferer and their family.
Using our links, we will then assemble a team including medical, financial and psychological experts who are able to help families and victims plan. not only physical recovery. but arrange any counselling that may be needed depending on the circumstances of the accident that caused the victim’s injury.
Available help
While you can continue to live your life with assistance and planning following a brain injury, you can still benefit from legal assistance to help alleviate the heavy cost that an traumatic brain injury carries in the instance that it was caused by somebody else’s negligence.
For more information on traumatic brain injury claims and what we can do to help when one has occurred, call us today on 01695 722 222. Our call centre is open on weekdays from 9am – 5pm and all of our solicitors work on a no win no fee basis.
Alternatively, you can get in touch by using our online form here.