To read "sojo's" story is to come to know the beauty of love between parents and their children, post TBI/ABI.

Children of survivors no doubt could tell their own stories, but to read not only a man's survival, but the love his children express towards him is to feel compassion, understanding and love so deep that it seems to be our carnal insticnts as survivors to regain abilities so as to comfort and be with our children when they need us most.

Even if it means that our children have to somehow find ways to cope with the trauma not only of separations, divorces, but most of all the reality of having a parent, a brother or sister or loved one, suffer a traumatic brain injury or incurred brain injury as you will learn from this story.

Respect and admiration is what Blu and I have towards fathers that despite their tbi/bi, they never "abandon" their children.

David Philpott aka "sojo"

SURVIVOR OF ENCEPHALITIS

In the fall of 1996 my wife (at the time) told me she
thought she was in love with another man, and wanted
to move out. I loved her enough to let her go and find
out for herself, and she moved into a mobile home
not too far away. After about 2 or 3 weeks we got back
together and were having marriage counseling from a
pastor in a nearby church, and I was living there
with her, and our children. At this time, we decided to
fix up our house, being out of it, and started on that.

In May of 1997, my son got chicken pox, first, and soon
I developed a headache. The ache came every day,
earlier, and more intense, until it was continuous.
After about two weeks of this, the bottom fell out
of my life. I totally lost balance, my vision went
double, and I went to the local hospital, where they couldn't
figure out what was wrong with me. I was taken to
Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem NC, where after
about 3 days they took a spinal tap and found a
virus in my spinal fluid. I had encephalitis. My brain had
already swelled to the max, and I had felt my being
disappear, like it went down a funnel somehow. I was
a real mess. They had no medicine to help me, so I was
just put on morphine, and went into a coma, in and
out sometimes.

I awoke inwardly, and was perfectly straight, and my "old" self, and I wondered where I was. There was a sparkler thing there, and it was
dark. To me, this was the face of lightening, and as
I wondered, a wave of joy, peace, love, and a sense of
eternity hit me, and went through me, like a hurricane. Then I knew I was either dead, or dying, and I was glad!

Up to this point I had not prayed for myself, as I hadn't enough sense to, I was so messed up. At this time, I heard myself praying that if the Lord were taking me then, to please send someone for my family. I can remember thinking as I prayed, "I'm doing the right thing!" Then, it faded out, and I awoke in the hospital bed, where they had called in
the family.

I was crippled on my right side, had lost speech, etc. At this time, a nurse asked me to try to move my fingers, and I could, but barely. I started therapy right then. I had to relearn to talk, walk, write, eat, everything. Now I am fully recovered, and have even relearned music, which they said I probably would never do again.

The Lord has guided me through all of this, in the last 3 years. Since then, my wife left, and got a boyfriend, who she has since married.

I had visitation rights, even though I was still pretty messed up in 1999, and one night the children became filled with the Spirit as I was putting them to bed. It was really weird. They were very tired, but
all of a sudden, became very alert, and almost seemed to change personalities. They had had a desire to have their bed pushed as close to the wall as possible. I didn't think much of it, like they feared the boogieman or something normal. But they told me why. They were still scared of the rat, they said. And I asked them to tell me about it.

My (Joshua) told me then that there had been a rat in the trailer, and then he reminded me of the nest that blown out of the heating duct in their room. I had cleaned it up, but had forgotten all about it. He said the rat (brown) had gone under my daughter's bed (Hannah) and her hand was hanging off the bed. The rat was going to bite her. Then he said the rat carried my unknown virus that had made me sick, and was trying to get Hannah next. Then, he said an angel, picked Hannah up, while she was still sleeping, and the rat couldn't get to her, and that the angel lost a feather. He said he then got the rat by the tail and opened the door, and threw it out, and the rat said, "Your Daddy got ALL the illness". Then, he said he and Hannah together got the feather and went to put it outside, and it floated up to Heaven. Then, he said there was a white rat standing there, that said, "See you later buddy!"

I asked Josh why he had not told me about this earlier, and he said he was afraid I might get mad for him to have opened the door at night. With the chicken pox, I was tested for the Herpes virus, and several others, but they were negative. Josh then told me a couple of fibs to test me, and he told me he was fibbing about that. He laughed very strangely. Then I asked if he knew more, and he said yes, but that he wouldn't tell me because I might have bad dreams about those things. Then, he asked me "When is Jesus coming?"

It was bizarre, but explained a lot to me. For a year or more after the illness it was as if I had no soul, no being, and I desperately wanted to die. I knew God would not be pleased with me if I killed myself, so I tried to see if He would hit me with lightening, or something. After a couple of years, the good Lord has replaced my old being with a much improved one, and does wondrous things with me now. It was His will to make me sick, and to keep me alive to serve Him as an obedient servant.

My life is still filled with troubles, but he is with me always, and will be, as He promises.
In His Love,

David aka “sojo”