Happy Brain Injury Awareness Day, 2021. Because of the pandemic, the briefing on Capitol Hill was conducted virtually, which allowed me to participate for the first time. This briefing was held by the Congressional Brain Injury Taskforce and the focus this year was, no shock, the effect of Covid 19 on the TBI population. There was a lot of scientific talk thrown around, but the most remarkable contribution, to me, came from former football player, Eric Washington, whose life was dramatically altered by concussions. Mr. Washington expressed a thought that I have had many, many times throughout this pandemic. He pointed out that now everyone in our country has experienced something similar to what those with brain injuries do- everything in life changing on a dime. Each “normal,” daily activity has had to be altered and reimagined through this pandemic; much as the lives of TBI patients have had to be. We all have been left with a year, (or a lifetime), unlike what we may have imagined. What we do with it is up to us.
The Concussion Chronicles 