In July 2009, I was struck by an oncoming car... a driver who did not have the right of way and ran a red light going 60 mph. From that accident, I received a Tramautic Brain Injury, (or TBI) along with a sub-conjunctival hemorrhage in my right eye, multiple facial lacerations and torn ligaments in my neck and back because my airbags did not deploy (I was still recovering from a concussion and sprained neck from 3 months prior due to a bad snowboarding fall). In conjunction with that Brain Injury, I received another TBI in December 2011, leaving me in seriously bad shape. Since then, I have been struggling and fighting my way through some unbelievable hardships & health issues (emotionally, physically and mentally) for the past few years of my life.
TBI/ABI is the "invisible disability". According to specialists, brain injury recovery is measured in YEARS, not months and sadly is mostly still not covered by health insurance in America. Through working with neuropsychologists and neurorehabilitation specialists, I have been able to get back on my feet. I am going to be participating in a school for brain injury rehabilitation in Fall 2017. Since I more recently started gaming again in 2015, I have seen an tremendous increase in my reflexes, hand-eye coordination, visuospatial skills, muscle memory, response time, and overall mood. These improvements show me that my brain is making a lot of progress! What may look like baby steps to most, are huge leaps for me in terms of recovery. Gaming, art and streaming have been like therapy for me and you guys have been an incredible support system throughout my years as a content creator. I'm unbelievably proud to be doing what I'm doing on Twitch and even more thankful for the amazing community I have met through streaming <3
I am eternally grateful to all that watch, follow, sub and support the channel, as I consider this to be the biggest part in my recovery to date. Gaming & streaming also help keep routine in my life, which is very important during brain injury recovery, while the issues I struggle with lessen in severity over the years. Twitch and the gaming community have truly been, and continue to be, a God-send. Some days are still worse than others, of course, as I am still healing, and I know this is kind of heavy, but this is my journey and I want to share it in hopes of spreading awareness and instilling faith in others who have struggled/are struggling with disability and/or mental health issues of any kind. Twitch is the first social media platform I've found where I have been able to be open about my injuries, disabilities, and recovery, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this and being a part of my journey.
"THIS TOO SHALL PASS"
My twitch page can be found here