Laura Shuman's Brain Injury
In April 2021, I was hit from behind on an off-ramp just 1.5 miles from our house and my car landed upside down at the bottom of the embankment. I was suspended by my seatbelt and my head was smashed into the roof of the car. It is a miracle that I made it out alive, but I did have a mild traumatic brain injury. After the accident, my entire life was upside down. It impacted my whole family and everything in my life.
Over the years, I have participated in a variety of therapies to work on turning my life back upright. I am grateful to God for my progress and all the people who poured themselves into my recovery, not just medical professionals, but family and friends. My journey is not over. I will continue to move forward and make progress. I am grateful to now have the "bandwidth" to start giving back to the organization and to other brain injury survivors.
Within the last year, Tim and I moved to “the country” in the upstate of South Carolina. I became a part of an online support group run by the BIAofSC. I have learned a lot from the guest speakers, facilitators and group members. It is great to talk to people who have similar stories and understand cognitive fatigue, sensory overload, the struggle of explaining their brain injury to others and living the life of a mostly invisible disability. This is just ONE program provided by the BIASC.
Why Coddiwomple? Coddiwomple is a verb that means to travel purposefully toward a vague or unknown destination, embracing the journey and unexpected discoveries rather than a fixed endpoint. It is moving forward with intent, even without a clear plan, finding meaning in the wandering itself, and is often used metaphorically for life's journey. Tim and I adopted this as our hiking/traveling word long before the accident because we loved to go on adventures, often without a planned destination or a change in destination mid way. Little did we know that my brain injury recovery would embody the definition of Coddiwomple. I thought my destination for the longest time was towards full recovery but I have accepted that full recovery really isn’t the goal or necessarily attainable. I recognize that I have had a lot of unplanned discoveries/blessings along the way these last 4+ years and am grateful for the journey. I have met incredible people that I likely would not have ever known had I not had the accident.
Join me in supporting the amazing Brain Injury Association of South Carolina through this fundraising platform. No donation is too small. You can just donate or you can sign up for an in person Walk, Run and Roll (Charleston, Columbia or the Upstate (Greenville)) or both.
Feel free to share this fundraiser with your family, friends through social media. I also encourage you to check out the BIAofSC website for more information about their mission and programs. https://www.biaofsc.com/
Thank you so much!
