Mar 17, 2008 11:06 pm US/Central
How A Brain Injury Changes Life, Family
(WCCO)
-
-
Once an all-star athlete, Keaton Bowden suffered a traumatic brain injury and now struggles to focus on a video game for more than five minutes.
CBS
Flipping through the family scrapbook isn't quite the same as it once was for the Bowdens, even as they appreciate their three handsome sons.
In June 2004, Keaton Bowden was riding his bicycle without a helmet and was hit by a pickup truck.
"He woke up from the coma and we got a whole new son. Whole new personality. Different issues from any other typical now 15-year-old," said Jay Bowden, Keaton's father.
Once an all-star athlete, Keaton suffered a traumatic brain injury and now struggles to focus on a video game for more than five minutes. He is quick to smile and quick to explode in a rage without provocation.
Keaton has come a long way for a boy that doctors predicted may never walk again, but the frustrations are endless.
"He's in history right now and he gets all the facts confused sometimes. Last year he was in history and he thought the FBI was following him when they were talking about Watergate," recalled Amanda Bowden, Keaton's mother.
"We have our good days and bad days," said Jay Bowden.
"And I stay home now," said Andrea Bowden.
"We see 75 percent of marriages fail after brain injury. We see families just fall apart," said Ardis Sandstrom, the executive director of the Brain Injury Association of Minnesota.
Sandstrom said more than 10,000 Minnesotans go to hospitals each year for head trauma, and too often they go home not knowing they've suffered a brain injury.
"So I want parents to think about when your child is suddenly acting out, go back and think were they in any kind of an accident that they may have hit their head because they usually get misdiagnosed," she said.
"It's so sad. Just a helmet would make all the difference," said Dr. Andrew Kiragu, a pediatric critical care specialist at Hennepin County Medical Center.
He said parents often live in fear of Leukemia, but that is the second leading cause of childhood death.
"Injuries are the number one cause of death and in fact you are 10 times more likely to die from a traumatic brain injury than you are to die from leukemia," said Kiragu, which makes him a fervent believer in brain injury prevention.
Prevention includes helmets for any risky sports and seatbelts and car seats for anyone in a vehicle.
Once doctors have treated the initial head injury, they focus on treating secondary injury in the brain. And that's often caused by swelling or bleeding.
"An injury that causes damage to blood vessels that run over the brain may cause bleeding that then causes a collection of blood that causes pressure on the brain itself," said Kiragu.
Every injury is different, but Keaton's brought all the classic curses including trouble concentrating and problem solving, and loss of memory and coordination.
"Brain injuries are hard to deal with in your life because once you have a brain injury you're stuck with it," said Keaton.
However, even with a brain injury, Keaton's compassion for other kids is very much intact.
"Please wear a helmet. If not your life is going to change forever, like mine did," said Keaton.
The Bowdens say discovering the
Brain Injury Association of Minnesota made all the difference for them; helping them arrange physical and emotional therapy for Keaton and making other resources available.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
