What Happens Immediately After the Injury?

My story is mild compared to what I read below. Sorry to those who are suffering. I am curious, however, about what happened to me. I am 46 and play ice hockey. While transitioning from forward to backwards I caught and edge and fell backwards, first hitting my butt, then back then back of head, which team mates said my head bounced. I don't recall loosing conciseness but I do recall like what I would describe as a reset felling in my mind. Like being stunned sober, although I was not drinking. Does that make sense? I did not feel confused but did sleep alot the next few days and sensitivity to light was present. I did not go to hospital or doctor and not sure now after 1 month it would even make sense. Does this sound like this was a concussion and I was knocked out?

I was in a car wreck in 2003 where I was ejected from the vehicle, flew about 50-75ft and hit the road head first. It is almost a guarantee that I lost consciousness but by the time first responders arrived I was awake. I cracked my skull, tore my brain down the middle and bruised the left side of it. My back and neck were broken as well. I spent 21 days in a drug induced coma, when I was brought out of it I was told it would be 6 months before I could expect to be discharged. I checked out of the hospital 13 days later and was back to work a month after that. Because my physical recovery was so swift Everyone including my Drs just assumed I was good to go. I was never given any information on what to expect with a TBI. I was 25 at the time and convinced of my own immortality. Within 6 months I lost everything and everyone I cared about. To this day I still don’t understand it. I just quit caring about anything that wasn’t right in front of me. I still struggle with this. I haven’t been able to maintain a relationship with anyone for more than a year or 2. I still work as an engineer and I am great at my job. My only physical symptom of a TBI is my speech when I get tired. I don’t suffer from depression or anxiety. My personality is the hardest thing to live with. I am 40 now and have learned to avoid people. They will just get hurt. I can love someone with every fiber of my being then go a couple days without seeing them and the feelings are gone. I rarely talk to my family, they always start reminiscing about me before my wreck, like the son they loved died that day and now it’s someone else in his skin. I don’t know why I am even writing this. I stumbled across this article and just felt like commenting. I was never told anything about my TBI or what I could expect. I just wanted to share my experience and maybe save someone else from going into it blindly. Remember that even if your body is whole, your thought process might not be healthy. Awareness doesn’t eliminate the problem but it can help you avoid hurting those that care about you.

I was knocked unconscious in a bike accident and have had to live the rest of my life never having met the person who carelessly knocked me off my bike. It's just something you have to deal with I'm afraid.

I hit a car at 30mph or so, lost my helmet in the impact and as knocked out for 40 minutes. I never knew a thing at all about the police or paramedics who attended that accident scene and I later woke up in hospital. I just stared at the hospital walls as I came around. A lovely nurse comforted me and just said,"do you remember being knocked out". I couldn't talk and just lay there. The hospital said I had had a nasty bang on my head. I also suffered other injuries to my legs and arms and had a tooth broken by the impact on my head I think.

It's not just the physical damage, the concussion, but the aftermath of getting on with ordinary life and activities again. I lost my confidence but as you get older and mature a little you realize that it could have been worse and you value life more I think. 

I was in a car accident a year and a half ago. My brother, my dads friend and his two kids were coming into town from a campground we go to. We were cruising along the road until I hear “OH MY GOD”! coming from the drivers seat. Not a millisecond later was my head launched into a back of a seat at 55mph. I woke up in a hospital 10 hours later with most of my close family around me, I was VERY confused and had amnesia as mentioned in the article, I didn’t know who the hell I was. Following the next day I had learned the toll that had been taken on my face. I had two missing teeth, my front and one of my canine and another tooth pushed up through my gum and it was at an odd angle, like it was pointing straight out not downwards like it’s supposed to. I had severed my upper lip in half leaving a bloody mess every time I woke up at the hositpal and at home for a few days because I would drool, oof, I still remember the odor. I had also broken my cheek bone leaving another scar and my bottom teeth went THROUGH the skin just below my bottom lip, leaving a hole( thankfully it healed and is just a scar now). I was also severely concussed, not sure if it was a TBI, maybe a moderate one since I blacked out for so long. It’s affected my everyday life, sometimes it’s the only thing I think about and whenever I do I get sent into this catatonic state and stare at something for unusually long periods of time. I also have had to deal with depression, when I was at my worst I had cut myself and even attempted suicide even though before my accident those thoughts would’ve never crossed my mind. Unless you’ve had a brain injury yourself, there’s no way someone can comprehend the type of state your body is put into when something like this happens, it’s fucking terrifying because I was told I was actually conscious right after my head was smashed, such as having to get out of the car while my two teeth fall to the ground with my brother looking at me in horror. I walk to the side of the road with blood pouring from my mouth knowing my only chance at survival is to lie down, when the pain was too much to bare is when I fainted on the road with blood gushing from my mouth. Ambulance sirens still give me chills. I had also been injured severely twice as a young child, I had my arm almost cut in half, pretty sure it was just hanging from veins, a large glass shard had cut it open due to me punching a glass door and breaking it, I was 4. I had also cut my head open due to me slipping and hitting my head on the sharp edge of a staircase, that was a rough one..., I think I blacked out then too. Another is when I swallowed a nickel before I went to bed, I was 5. I woke up to barely being able to breathe, drooling all over myself and talking like I was gonna die (I think I was). The next thing I remember is being woken up after being taken to the emergency room to have it removed. Another blackout I think because I don’t remember SHIT, it was like one thing then bam the nickel was out and it was like 3-4 hours later. Probably the oxygen depletion to my brain.

My nephew died 06.03.2018. He was a firefighter. The firetruck's tire burst. His safety belt tore with impact and he went through the front window. He was 25. Dr explained that he was brain dead. His brainstem broke??? Is there a chance that he could have been saved if he reached the hospital earlier?? The accident happened at 23:00 and help only arrived about an hour later. He still talked with one of his colleagues but lost consciousness just before the ambulance arrived.

I lost my father last month after he journeyed for 18 years from pedestrian motorcycle accident... He was the pedestrian. I was inspired to learn about our phenomenal brain and how to cure injuries like my dad's.

Back in 07' my brother was struck by a car. He was riding a bicycle coming down a hill; when a car going more then the allotted 30mph around a sharp curve came flying around. He was struck by the car being tossed in the air and hitting the windshield and rolling on back. Immediately after he balled up into a fetal position and was unresponsive. The police department found him at fault for it because they said he failed to stop at the stop sign. When he got to the hospital they placed him in ICU. All the doctors and nurses said that there was no way he would make it passed that day, but they will do all they can. He had uncontrolled bleeding on the brain to the point they had to put him in an induced coma. While in the coma they operated and had to remove part of his skull and damaged brain tissue. He stayed in ICU for about 4 months but was still unresponsive. He was later stable enough to be moved to a facility in Atlanta where they tried physical therapy for about 5 months. Nothing was working and his legs became so stiff to the point that they are permanently straight. His left arm in bent up and right arm straight out. He also has severe foot drop (where your feet starts to fold downward). After Atlanta he was moved to a nursing home for 7 months. He got to finally come home on February 14th 2009. When he came home at the time I was 15. My life became taking care of him. I was unable to go places because he needed someone to take care of him. He was totally unresponsive unable to see, speak, move voluntarily and we were just hoping he could hear. He eats through a feeding tube cant take anything by mouth and wears briefs. The incident cause him to favor the left side. Now his head pulls only to the left and his upper body folds over to the left causing his left lung to collapse leaving one good lung. His mouth stays so tightly shut that you cant lean it. His hands stay in a fist position. Over time all of his care has fallen upon me. I have to be his sole caretaker. I am now 24 and October 28 2017 marked exactly 10 years that he has been in this state. Nothing has changed for him but I still believe that one day he might just come out of it. But if I never get that one day I'll just be glad with the time I've been given with him. He is still here and that's all that matters to me.

I was hit by a semi on my bike going to work a couple months ago. Though the bike was totaled and my left foot mangled ( just got last to pins out yesterday) my helmet just got scratched up real bad. So I guess their was no head or brain trauma even though I was unconscious when e.m.s. arrived. Well, I wonder since I haven’t slep more than three hours at a time since the wreck. I have mood swings that have me wanting to jump up and organize my knife collection or polish my other bike, to not even getting dressed for days. It should be noted, I think I had or have a bout of depression due to the death of my daughter back in March. But, I never did the stupid crap I do now. And I still remember nothing about the crash. Thank god for witnesses, or I’d be screwed. I don’t even remember giving the police my statement and thank god it matched. I,be also been waking up in middle of the night with headaches that are so bad, by the time they wake me, I litterally take four to six ibuprofen to calm them. And simple chores like taking out garbage, can take up to 45 min by the time I piddle around, forget what I m doing, side track, watch a commercial on tv, or just stand and stair into space. And all the above ?

I was a pedestrian hit by a car going 30mph. I broke my left femur and right tibia. Along with my left elbow and face. I was in a coma for a month. I don't remember the following month (while I was transferred to DMC, post coma) I stayed in the hospital for 2.5 months. Its been a year and 6 months since the time I got hit by the car and I still can't walk. I was severly shaking and was very unbalanced. A doctor finally got me a pill that helped! Now, my shaking has gone 75% away. My balance is 50% better. I am 5'8", in the hospital, I went from 145 to 122. Then, just recently, went down to 109lbs. I just never have an appetite and I didn't realize the extent of my eating until my Dad took a picture of me. I saw it and I was completely grossed out and mortified. I now force myself to eat three meals a day + an ensure + protein shake!!

My 3 year girlfriend left me after my accident 3 months in. She said I was going crazy. I was so scared for my life I lost toilet function. 19 months later I'm still suffering lots of psychological problems. The PTSD came shortly after and I think is still with me, then I found out I had dysthymia a possible remission of PTSD. Now getting emdr and anger management and cognitive therapy thanks to the bloke who changed my life who knocked me off my motorbike  I feel either anger or just numb and life is so so shit. I wonder what I'm still doing here. I wish he cut my leg off with a bread knife .

Motorcycle accident few days ago for my brother and his gf. She's in trauma, bleeding on brain, out of ear due to fractured temple. She has woke up but out of her mind, doesn't know anyone. I do pray she'll get better soon.

Inspiring.  As the victim of an assault (the perpetrator received a 5 year prison term), and with it, a traumatic brain injury (TBI), all of your comments made me think.  Initially, I was going to say stories instead of comments, but these are people's lives, not stories.  I live on the continent, but I don't feel comfortable saying where.   With my injury, the medical establishment and a government department wiped me out.  Right down to the point I had no clothes.  They say, because the outlook for me did not look good and my family was not in the area.  I write this, a testament to say they were wrong, and give others the hope there is a way out.

Now, I am in the middle of a legal fight, after a coma and 4 months of intensive care, a year and a half of hospitalization.  What's the purpose of my legal fight?   To prove that the health care and government predictions were wrong and their loss of hope has cost me valuable time (and basic things like clothes), the part of time we we call living.  I take solace that there are people out there who may understand what life and survival can be like - those people are you.  Bless you all!