A Husband's Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injury

Bob Carroll

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Newsweek is featuring an article by Barbara Stahura about her husband's traumatic brain injury (TBI) and his recovery. Her story expresses the suddenness of the injury, the loss of identity and the miracle of recovery. How My Husband Came Back has a happy ending, an almost complete return of brain function. But, the darkness Ken escaped is well described.

A car accident and brain injury threatened to take away the man I love.

The white sedan that turned in front of my husband on his motorcycle might as well have been a rocket blasting us to an alien planet against our will. Left with a traumatic brain injury, the Ken I loved, the Ken defined by his unique neural pathways--as we all are--threatened to vanish into the darkness that had sucker-punched his brain.

My experience with Brain Injury Support Groups is that complete recoveries are rare. But, significant improvement is not unusual. The key is often the support of a spouse and other family members. Barbara Stahura, who had married Ken only nine months before his TBI, may have been his most important care giver.