My name is Willie Roy Ferguson, Jr., and I am seventeen years old. I was a freshman at Paint Branch High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, at the time of my accident. My family includes my mother, my father, one younger sister, and one older brother. As mentioned above, on December 22, 1998, I was walking to school and was hit by a car at the age of fourteen. I sustained a traumatic brain injury and remained in a coma for two months. I can best express my feelings at the time for the injury through the following poem, which I wrote after God awakened me from the coma:

My family was devastated by the results of the accident. My mother, my father, my sister, my aunt, and my uncle had to immediately adjust their lives to live in a hotel near the University of Maryland Medical Center to be with me. Their hearts were deeply hurt, and their lives were turned upside down. My family told me that they slept in the emergency room the first night I was in the hospital along with another aunt.

Being in a coma, I can not really describe my hospitalization. However, my family told me I was full of tubes and highly medicated. They also told me I underwent approximately four hours of surgery. They told me that seventy-two hours after the surgery were crucial to my survival. My family said that each day presented a new challenge: accelerating head pressures, high fevers, and pneumonia. As a result I needed respiratory assistance, tracheotomy, spinal tap, and repeated CAT scan tests. I also had to be monitored twenty-four hours a day. After two weeks of constant monitoring my system finally stabilized, and life support was no longer required. After another two weeks my body became stronger and the major health focus was that of the coma. They then transferred me to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC. At that point I was still in a coma, and my family had selected an acute care facility instead of a nursing home.

After a month in the rehabilitation Center, I began to emerge from the coma. My daily routine included around the clock, physical, occupational, and speech therapy. All of the therapists and nurses were essential parts of my recovery. I also had regular doctors who checked my progress on a daily basis.

A brain injury is a very costly condition. My mother's insurance provider did not want me to stay in an acute care facility. They wanted to move me to a nursing home. However, my mother was determined to see that I received the proper care that I needed for my condition. She fought for the insurance to extend my stay and, in the interim was able to secure Medicaid for me. My parents were shocked and disappointed at the insurance benefits, which was an ongoing battle through my stay. I felt the same as my mother about the insurance company.

The injury has made me a better student in High School and a better person in life. I am now an honor roll student, in my junior year. I hope and pray for a good future. My fascination with vocabulary words has enhanced my ability to communicate effectively. In the community, I am setting an example as a person that will not give up. Recently, I was nominated for a state award and received the honor to be the recipient at the Brain Injury Association of Maryland Annual Conference, as one who survived in the category of independence.

I feel that I still need a physical, occupational, and speech therapist. I have also been told that my behavior and comments are sometimes not appropriate. However, I recognize this and make a conscious effort each day to conquer this obstacle. My family and I were hoping that I reached the NBA, but that dream has been delayed because of my injury and the affects the injury has had on my body. However, I was able to play baseball at my school this past year.

My goals now are to finish high school, go to college, become a basketball coach, and to continue my writing. I feel that I am blessed by God to have survived the accident. I aspire to continue progressing and to become a productive and influential member of society. My family continues to encourage me to strive for the best.

Although I did not ask for this world, nor would I have sought it out, I have learned to embrace it and to face courageously the day-to-day challenges that recovering from a TBI presents.

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