Man graduates 6 years after brain injury, aims to help others like him

Man graduates 6 years after brain injury, aims to help others like him

(Cory McFarland)


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Editor's note: Images in photo gallery may be considered graphic by some viewers.PROVO — Six years after sustaining a traumatic brain injury during a motorcycle accident, Cory McFarland is graduating from Brigham Young University. Now he wants to share his story to help others who have experienced similar trauma.

McFarland, who is 26, is one of about 5.3 million Americans who are living with TBI, according to the Brain Trauma Foundation. Doctors gave him a 10 percent chance at survival after being critically injured when an SUV pulled out in front of him on Dimple Dell Road in Sandy on July 30, 2008.

He woke from a coma a couple of weeks after the accident, but it wasn’t until the end of September that his brain was able to recollect day to day memories and process everyday thoughts, according to McFarland. The road to graduating from BYU with a bachelor's degree in sociology has been a long one, with McFarland relearning how to walk and recall simple words like “cup.”

“It’s kind of a surreal feeling knowing that I overcame the impossible,” he said.

His next goal is to find a job and work on projects designed to help military members and veterans injured in combat. A professor sought him out at BYU to work on research about TBI and collaborate on a journal article.

Knowing there are others in the same situation as him who need help is what enabled him to keep pushing forward.

TBI by the numbers
  • TBI is the leading cause of death and disability in children and adults from ages 1 to 44.
  • Every year, approximately 52,000 deaths occur from traumatic brain injury.
  • An estimated 1.5 million head injuries occur every year in the United States emergency rooms.
  • At least 5.3 million Americans, 2% of the U.S. population, currently live with disabilities resulting from TBI.
  • The leading causes of TBI are falls, motor vehicle crashes, struck by or against events, and assaults, respectively.
  • Veterans' advocates believe that between 10 and 20% of Iraq veterans, or 150,000 and 300,000 service members have some level of TBI.
  • 30% of soldiers admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center have been diagnosed as having had a TBI.
Info: Brain Trauma Foundation

“I’m kind of fighting all of this,” he said. “I can become kind of a motivational speaker to help people fight this same fight that I’ve been fighting through and be there for them and say, ‘Look at all of the great work you have been doing so far. We’re doing it together. I’ve been doing that same thing. I’ll be right by you this whole way through.’ I just want to be there to help them take those next steps and feel hope — hope that we all need.”

While McFarland has come a long way from his accident, that doesn’t mean everyday life is easy for him. He described himself as having the body of an 80-year-old man with arthritis, a bad knee and frequent migraines. He uses hand controls to drive his truck because his leg falls asleep after driving for about 10 minutes, and he still can’t run.

In the past six years, McFarland said he has learned to process things differently.

“I’ve had to change a lot over the years,” he said. “One thing that I’ve known with that, though, is that if I am determined enough to survive and fight through all of the things I’ve done before, if I’ve been determined enough to be able to handle all of the pain I’ve been through, I’ll be able to handle a lot more. I broke some ribs. I broke my hand and I had a whole jaw surgery all over again. I’ve got a fake chin. I had to have plastic surgery. So to go through all of that and have a smile at the end of the day — it’s a really good day (to be) where I’m at right now.”

McFarland said it is difficult for the majority of people to understand what it is like to live with a TBI, so he is in a unique position to help others. He said that based on outward appearances most people think he is perfectly healthy, but that looks can be deceiving.

He wants to let others with TBI know that they aren’t alone and suggested they work towards small goals. He still remembers the first time he was able to walk across a room.

“If you feel like all of your hopes have been lost, I’ve felt like that too. But in the long run, it’s going to be worth it,” he said. “After all of the pain you’ve gone through and all of the fights you’ve been able to overcome so far, just take that one step after that and then another one after that. Just don’t ever give up. Don’t ever stop fighting.”

For those who want to help someone with a TBI but don’t know what to do, McFarland said that often the best course of action is just to say hi and express that you care for them.

“We’re almost ashamed of having a brain injury and want to be (normal), so we push it aside,” he said. “I just want to help people with brain injuries to not have the drive or need to push aside who they are anymore.”

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