|
Traumatic Brain Injury
Author: | Saturday March 24, 2007
This year, more than most, traumatic brain injury awareness is vital.
TBI in the News
Raises Awareness
March was Brain Injury Awareness Month and this year, more than most, traumatic brain injury is in the forefront of our awareness. The story of ABC's Bob Woodruff has brought the impact of TBI to an international audience.
Woodruff sustained a serious brain injury as a result of an explosive device while on assignment for ABC News in Iraq in January, 2006. In February, 2007, he returned to ABC News with his first on-air report which told of his rehabilitation and related the story of thousands of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with similar injuries. The impact of such injuries in the military is going to be an ongoing story in the months and years to come.
As a result of Woodruff's story, the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has entered into a partnership with Woodruff and his family to raise awareness of TBI and to administer the newly created Bob Woodruff Family Fund for TBI to assist service personnel and their families affected by injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Woodruff was also scheduled to file a series of reports for ABC's World News Tonight, Good Morning America and Nightline throughout March to cover various aspects of brain injury. The reports were to include some of the individuals featured in the BIAA's Brain Injury Awareness Month campaign: "Living with Brain Injury: As Diverse as We Are."
As in the case of actor Christopher Reeve, who sustained a spinal cord injury and went on to become an advocate and helped to raise awareness of spinal cord injury and related rehabilitation issues, Woodruff's story is bringing the impact of TBI to the community level.
In Tallahassee in March, a number of awareness programs were to be held including a presence at the Capitol on March 22. The annual Brain Injury Association of Florida is planning their annual conference for May 2-5 in Orlando and a Jamboree & Family Forum June 2-3 in Oveido.
From prevention programs to community reentry following TBI, the issue is one which needs to be continually addressed and understood. For every high profile case, there are thousands of individuals and their families who are working their way back to living with TBI.
Ed. Note: Visit www.bobwoodrufffamilyfund.org, www.biaf.org or the national web site at www.biausa.org for more information on how you can learn about TBA and become involved in community and national programs.
|
