Month: April 2015

Terry Smith became an advocate and writer as a result of severe Traumatic Brain Injury sustained in OCS summer training after his freshman year of college. In plan, he was to build a military career, be elected to senate, and then become President of the United States. In reality, he flat-lined twice during brain surgery and woke up from a coma with amnesia. To develop memory, he was to record daily life by writing. Three years later, he returned to college and graduated. He was awarded a writing fellowship with Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. Over the following years, he worked in film and television for 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, and Orion Pictures. He has written three books – Jason’s Final Coming, Helvena, and Surviving Head Trauma. He is also an award winning playwright – Cherry Street Park, The Funny Thing About Death, and The Bar on 3rd St. His life advocacy is for raising awareness and prevention of TBI. See www.terrysmithbooks.com

Dr. Adrian Harel is an accomplished biochemist and business manager from Israel. He founded a company specializing in development of stem cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Harel has a demonstrated record of accomplished and productive research projects in an area of high relevance for CNS breakdown. He has devoted considerable efforts into designing new molecules that could potentially help future victims of TBI and help the burden of societies endured by each TBI victim. It has been my lifelong mission to think outside the box and develop new treatments with his knowledge of biochemistry. See more at www.medicortex.fi

Amy Zellmer is a regular contributor for the Huffington Post and a professional photographer and business coach located in Saint Paul, MN. She is in the process of writing a book on TBI awareness, and is also a contributing author on a soon-to-be-released book by Carole Brody Fleet on overcoming obstacles and life changes. She is actively involved in TBI awareness and advocacy since sustaining a traumatic brain injury in 2014, and recently attended Brain Injury Awareness Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. She enjoys all things glittery and sparkly as well as chocolately. Her and her Yorkie, Pixxie, enjoy traveling the country on road trips and speaking to groups. You can find out more about Amy at www.customcreationsphotography.com or her column on Huffington Post online.

We want people to understand our “silent epidemic”, but how honest, open minded and willing are we to hear about the plight of others with disability? Do we look for the similarities, or the differences in the issues we all face? Meg Perez, will speak of a genetic condition called William’s syndrome, what it’s meant in her life, & then the recent finding she has also suffered an undiagnosed brain injury. So many people who have had brain trauma go undiagnosed, yet the symptoms are lurking right there. We’ll discuss the challenges of relationships, goal setting, and the obstacles involved, when you’ve had a diagnosis since birth.

Terry Monkaba, Exec Director of the Williams Syndrome Association, who also has a 29yr old son with the condition will be joining us. More at Williams-Syndrome.org