Informative Speech On Brain Injury

Imagine being the popular kid in school everyone looking up to you being drop dead gorgeous, amazing at sports, and a bright future ahead of you, then waking up one day to have your entire life flipped upside down. I don’t know If any of you know someone with a brain injury or head trauma but I have been influenced by it my whole life. My Aunt Terri was in a horrible crash, she was comatose for over three weeks, and woke up with the mind of a toddler, her story is in nothing short of a miracle. When my aunt was 15 she was in an atv accident. A car had not seen her and hit her on her atv at 60 mph. She was instantly comatose on impact. Her parents immediately called 911, once the ambulance arrived the paramedics knew immediately that the
Comatose is a state in which the higher brain areas are damaged, meaning the parts of your brain that you use most are either not functioning at all or functioning very little, and in Terri’s case her brain wasn’t functioning at all, doctors were afraid she was going to be in a vegative state for the rest of her life. According to the university of North Carolina there are eight stages of comatose that people go through: Stage 1: No response- in which the person appears to be in a deep sleep, there is no response to touch, sound, smell or light, they can be restless, trying to move her arms and legs, and eyes may be open or closed for no specific reason. Stage 2: Generalized responses- in which the person begins to respond to stimulation, including pulling away from pain, may open eyes
Stage 3:Localized response- the person is awake more often and able to be alert for several minutes at a time. Begins to have specific responses to stimulation such as blinking at bright lights, turning away from sounds or following people with his eyes, more active moving away from pain, usually responds better to family and friends than to people she doesn’t know. Stage 4:Consused-Agitated- this stage does not usually last long and is a good sign for further recovery. The person is trying to communicate five basic things- thirst or hunger, discomfort, tiredness or overstimulation, confusion about where they are located or what is happening. There is much confusion, disorientation and disorganization. Response is shown by agitation or aggression, very restless and may behave strangely, may scream or cry out for no apparent reason, may hit bite or kick may say things that don’t make sense or are offensive. This is probably the most difficult stage for a parent to go through. Stage 5: Confused-Inappropriate- the child is more aware of her surroundings. she is able to maintain attention for 10-15 minutes at a time. Easily distracted and