Rachel's Miracle

A couple weeks ago, there was a special on 20/20 about Gabby Giffords’ amazing recovery. I dvr’d it and started watching it again which inspired this blog. It’s amazing how similar yet different our injuries are.

Gabby and I were not only both shot in the brain but we face many of the same challenges. For example, we both have hemi paresis, meaning weakness in one side. Mine is on the left, where Gabby’s is on her right this is due to which side of the brain was damaged at the motor cortex. Mine on the right, Gabby’s on the left. I have left side weakness because the bullet damaged the right side of my brain. And Gabby has right side weakness because the bullet damaged the left side of her brain. Are you confused yet? It was interesting seeing her smile while in the hospital bed because it looked very similar to mine while I was in the hospital. The only difference is my half smile was on the right side and her half smile is on the left. (See photo below) .

Gabby suffers from Aphasia, which is a language disorder due to damage to the left side of the brain.. She has difficulty finding the right words and expressing herself. Even though the bullet entered the right side of my brain and crossed over into the left hemisphere, it missed the speech center therefore sparing me any language or speech disorders. It’s interesting to note that her husband, Mark Kelly stated on the special the doctor told him if the bullet would have crossed hemispheres it would have killed her. Well I’m here to tell you that I’m living proof that that notion isn’t always correct.

I don’t know how much Gabby’s memory has been affected by her injury but mine was significantly impaired due to the bullet crossing over both hippocampi, the memory centers. I would guess that we’re both dealing with similar executive functioning problems due to the fact that the bullet in my brain went through my left frontal lobe and permanently rests above my left eye. And Gabby was shot in the left frontal lobe, above her left eye. Seeing Gabby in the helmet took me back to that time in my life. We both wore helmets for months to protect our brains because a portion of our skulls were removed to allow our brains to swell.

I really feel a connection to Gabby as well as other TBI survivors. I’m glad that Gabby has decided to bring awareness of brain injury to the general public because everyone needs to be aware of the struggles that we face and there’s no better person than Gabby to bring attention to this. I really hope someday I have the chance to meet her and perhaps we can share our experiences with each other. Gabby’s survival and recovery is really nothing short of a miracle. I wish her all the best and will continue to pray for even further recovery.