For veterans returning from Iraq with traumatic brain injuries, life can spiral out of control. They lose memory and concentration. They cannot maintain relationships. Unable to work, they lose jobs. They feel isolated, frustrated and angry.
Now they have help.
The 10 in 10 Project, a New York-based nonprofit, is launching its Ticket to Hope campaign, sending brain injury recovery kits to people with traumatic brain injuries. The kit includes a DVD tutorial, teaching keys to recovery ? finding a buddy, getting rest, accepting your new life and setting a routine, Karen Fowler, founder of 10 in 10, said.
Fowler was inspired to start the project because her brother suffered a brain injury from a car accident 25 years ago.
“Obviously, the whole family was devastated,” she said. “It?s like having a wheelchair in your head and nobody can see that wheelchair.”
At the time, Fowler lacked knowledge about these injuries. By watching the DVD with her brother, she was able to understand his injury.
The kits, however, are not a cure-all. They are complicated and people with traumatic brain injuries might not have the cognitive skills to use them, said Diane Tripplet, director of the Brain Injury Association of Maryland.
In 2005, more than 6,000 Marylanders had a brain injury severe enough to be sent to a trauma center, Tripplet said.
Not all of the 5.3 million Americans living with disabilities from a brain injury have the support system Fowler?s brother has. Fewer than two in 10 sufferers receive the aid they need to return to a meaningful life, Fowler said.
Two-thirds of wounded soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have had traumatic brain injury, according to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Traumatic brain injury is often misdiagnosed in soldiers as post-traumatic stress disorder, said Dr. Ezriel Kornel, director of the Institute for Neurosciences.
“People tend to think that maybe they?ve had a traumatic emotional event and all they need to do is be psychologically managed and they?ll get better,” Kornel said. “There are a lot of people who sort of fall by the wayside.”
