About me

Traumatic brain injury is the number one killer of persons under the age of 44.  Every twenty one seconds, someone suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the United States.  As a result, 5.3 million Americans are living with a disability from TBI.  This non-discriminatory injury changes life in an instant.
 
On May 10, 1993 my life was changed forever because someone ran a red light.  Featured on Lifetime's "Beyond Chance", CNN, Woman's Day Magazine, and top ranked WB's WGN News, my story is gaining national attention.  After a life-threatening car accident, I suffered a severe brain stem injury and medically died, rating a "3", the lowest number possible on the Glascow Coma Scale.  According to medical experts, 96% of the people with such a severe injury either die or remain permanently comatose.  The few who survive typically face a non-functional life.  I completely beat the odds even though I remained in a coma for over a month.
 
Paralyzed and unconscious, I was transferred to the locked brain injury wing of a rehabilitation facility, where I awakened with vivid memories of my near death experience.  During "death" I saw my grandmothers in heaven.  They instructed me to "Go back and be happy" and assured me that my body would heal.  Although medical experts said I would never walk again, or be able to take care of myself, I didn't listen.  I believed the words of my grandmothers.
 
Through extensive therapy, I relearned how to stand, walk, and swallow.  However, I faced the daunting challenge of facing the able-bodied world as a disabled person.  After overcoming paralysis and battling severe depression, I embraced my gift of recovery as a true miracle.
 
In 1999, I ran in a 5K race near Chicago on Mother's Day! In February 2007, I completed my first triathlon.  I have become an advocate for other survivors looking for hope and guidance.  I work with the Brain Injury Association of Illinois, the Spinal Cord Injury Association of Illinois, and am a peer advisor to the Midwest Brain Injury Clubhouse.  As a VIP member (voice for injury prevention) for the national program of ThinkFirst, I speak to students about injury prevention and safe driving.  I volunteer at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in their Peer Support Program.  I currently work part time as a community relations advisor for a top Chicago law firm.
 
People often ask me, 'Well, did you "go back and be happy?" Are you happy?'  My answer is, 'Yes, but it wasn't easy.' Being happy has been a long-term process and spiritual journey with twelve key stepping-stones along the way: Faith, Family, Friends, Feelings, Flexibility, Forgiveness, Fearlessness, Fitness, Failure, Fortitude, Finances, and Future.  Please click on Book Purchase and read about my personal journey to Go Back and Be Happy after my world crashed and my life was changed forever.
 
I hope my story of faith and determination offers an inspirational and practical approach to dealing with sudden changes in life.  Like an oyster, I transformed the unexpected "grit" in my life into a precious pearl.