Posts tagged "traumatic brain injury"

Last December, 26-year-old Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry perished when he was thrown from a truck driven by his girlfriend. Later examination of the young NFL star found extensive brain damage, usually only seen in older players with many years (and concussions) under their belts.

The traumatic brain injury inside the young athlete's head was shocking to doctors.

In fact, Henry is the youngest player ever to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a particular sort of degenerative disease caused exhibited by individuals who have suffered repeated concussions and other head injuries.

Taylor Tolleson was a professional cyclist who had competed several times in the Tour of California, but his career ended suddenly last July when he became the victim of a hit-and-run driver. Now, Tolleson is suing the driver that knocked him off his motorcycle and put an end to his competitive bicycling career.

The accident occurred last July on Highway 1 near the Fishhook Interchange. Tolleson was riding his motorcycle toward Santa Cruz when, just before midnight, he was allegedly struck from behind by an Audi driven by Thomas John Legan, of Aptos. According the California Highway Patrol, Tolleson was pulled under the car and then spit out into another lane of traffic.

Tolleson suffered a number of serious injuries including a broken vertebrae and a brain hemorrhage that led to a traumatic brain injury. According to Tolleson, the extent of the injuries has made a return to his professional cycling impossible. In the recently filed lawsuit, he is seeking damages for past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and compensation for the long-term effects of the traumatic brain injury.

The car accident left former Navy Captain Jack Kriz with liver, respiratory and kidney failure. 

It also left him with a traumatic brain injury, requiring nearly a year of rehabilitation and hundreds of hours of therapy. Two years after the accident, Kriz remains bound to a wheelchair and will never walk again, much less play sports with his children.

As for the man who tore Jack Kriz's life apart?

Nicholas Griffith was driving with a suspended license, due to a prior DUI arrest, when he smashed his pickup into Kriz's Toyota Prius, demolishing the front end and trapping Kriz inside. One would think a car accident like that, leaving the other driver with a traumatic brain injury, would make a person rethink his or her decisions and take more responsibility. 

Still, as Jack Kriz was struggling through the agonizing recovery process, Griffith was stopped for a second DUI.