Can The Brain Rewire Itself After a Traumatic Injury?
Posted by
IB ContributorFebruary 28, 2007 1:27 AMGood news after twenty years!
Most mothers are not surprised when they get a phone call from their daughter, but when Betsy Scantlin got a call from her daughter Sarah Scantlin she was stunned, because Sarah had been basically unconscious for twenty years after having been hit by a drunk driver. The doctors told Sara's dad, James Scantlin, "The brain injury is so severe that the daughter you had is gone".
Sarah's doctor, Bradley Scheel said that the doctors are not certain how and why Sarah suddenly began talking after twenty years, but they believe it is possible that essential areas of the brain may have regenerated even though her brain was so severely injured Sarah should have died over two decades ago.
However, Sarah still suffers from the effects of being hit by the drunk driver while walking to her car in 1984. Her legs constantly spasm and her right foot is twisted. Sarah's neck muscles are so constricted that she unable to swallow her food normally.
The man who devastated Sarah's life served only six months in jail after being convicted of DUI and leaving the scene of an accident. Unfortunately, for Sarah Scantlin she received a life sentence!
Let's home Sarah's doctors can figure out what went right in the hopes that we can learn to duplicate Sarah's recovery. We have represented many brain injury clients, some of who have made remarkable recoveries. Head and brain injuries are the most devastating, the types of injuries that the medical professionals know the lest about and the ones with the most dramatic recoveries.
Welcome back Sarah!
The information for this story was from CBS news at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/11/earlyshow/main673281.shtml