Sean Carter

Sean writing to someone via the Internet on his "RollTalk"

Sean asked me to update his Walking Goal to Christmas Day, 2008

www.whenseanspeaks.com

What do you do when your brain no longer tells your body how to walk or talk? When even the simple act of swallowing your saliva is forgotten and when you concentrate on something the drool runs out of your mouth? When you can no longer control your body and tell it to take a deep breath?

What do you do when you are totally aware of everything you cannot do, and you are trapped in your body. When just over three years ago you could do all of these things, but now you can do no more than use the index finger on your left hand to type into a computer?

If you are Sean Carter, you take the opportunity to tell others about the dangers of risky behavior. You tell others that there is Life after Brain Injury. You tell others, never, ever, ever, give up!

Sean's journey into his new life started at the crash site in Wichita Falls, Texas, during the wee hours of Sunday, March 27, 2005. At the time of his motor vehicle crash, he was an MSU student majoring in Business Administration. He was the passenger in a truck, driven by a friend who lost control at the wheel. As the truck spun and slammed into a tree, Sean's journey began. Sean suffered multiple fractures, internal injuries, but worst of all a traumatic brain injury. Sean is now well down the path of his new life. Although he has forgotten how to walk and talk, Sean is making progress.

He suffers very few cognitive deficits, and returned to college to work on completing his Bachelor's Degree at The University of Texas at Dallas in January 2007. His first semester back, he earned an "A"in Entreprenuership, and a "B" in Management Information Systems. This is a huge accomplishment for someone diagnosed initially with a severe diffuse axonal injury.

Sean has had Hippotherapy (therapy on horseback) at Stajduhar Stables in Colleyville, Texas, for the second time.

His good humor and courage are infectious. We are so thankful that he is able to communicate with us via an alphabet board and his "life line", an electronic communication device called RollTalk. It actually speaks the sentences that he types.

He is now taking advantage of his ability to communicate and tell his story by speaking to groups about the experience that placed him in his wheelchair. He has spoken at L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, TX, S&S High School and Middle School in Sadler, TX, Dallas Christian Academy, and Texas High School in Texarkana, TX. He has spoken at Victim's Impact Panels for MADD. He has spoken to troubled teens at a facility in Vernon, TX, and will return there in September. He has spoken for the organization "Think First", an organization sponsored by BIR, that reaches out to young people in an effort to prevent Spinal Cord and Brain Injuries.

He has also spoken before the Texas EMS, Trauma, and Acute Care Services Advisory Foundation (TETAF)and the Governor's EMS, Trauma and Acute Care Advisory Council (GETAC), Injury Prevention Council.

He has been elected to the Texas Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Council

Sean has just begun working as Account Liaison for Mobility Medical Equipment, Inc. His job is to pick up orders for wheelchairs, walkers, etc., from area hospitals and rehab facilities. He and his MoM have also begun work as consultants for Comation, the company that distributes RollTalk in the United States. How's that for someone unable to walk or talk?

He has been featured in print and video by the Dallas Morning News, appeared in a segment on Dallas' TV Channel 4, and on the local Arklatex TV station. He has been featured in print in "Pulse" magazine, in BIR's 2007 Annual Report, in the July 2008 issue of Info Magazine of Grayson County and will be featured in a Parkland Hospital Publication.

Sean took a 23 day road trip with MoM in June of 2008, and drove up to Pasco, Washington, for a visit with his identical twin brother, Todd. We returned via Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

Sean has now embarked on a weekly commute to Austin, Texas, so that he can participate in Brain Therapy at the Crossroads Institute.

Always present throughout this journey, have been our faithful “Army of Angels”. A group of individuals brought together by the pages of Sean's story, to follow his journey and to lift him up with thoughts and prayers. I believe they have played and continue to play a huge part in the victories that Sean continues to achieve.

Thank you for joining us, and Please sign into the guestbook and let us know that you checked in!

Journal

Sunday, August 17, 2008 7:10 PM CDT

Once again, we have had an extremely busy week, but a really happy, happy week. We found out that St. David's Rehab wants to add another day of therapy for Sean. That will mean that instead of getting 10-11 hours a week of all the disciplines, speech, PT, OT, Aquatherapy, and Neuromuscular Retraining, he will now get from 13-15 hours a week.

Odee's Photography, in Sherman and Info Magazine of Grayson County, sponsored a benefit for Sean on Saturday. After getting Sean up early all week, I again got him up early Saturday for our drive up there. We had a tent on the corner of the Albertson's parking lot in Sherman and two bounce houses. There was a drink trailer provided by Albertson's, and a "Hammer Game". They had numerous items to raffle off, from gift certificates to 3 pair of beautiful earrings from a new shop in Sherman called "The Parrot Lady". What an honor it was.

We got home at about 6:30 Saturday night and Sean had to get right on his NuStep. He told me that he was really tired but if he was going to walk by Christmas, he had to get to work. He didn't think he was going to ride for long, but he ended up riding away for 65 minutes!

This morning, I got up early to run to the grocery store. When I returned home, I put the groceries away and then left to drive to Granbury. My dear friend, Sharon Vessels Roberts' daughter-in-law, Amanda was being given a baby shower at the Merry Heart Tea Room. I was able to enjoy the afternoon with my friend, Sharon, her daughter, Jessica, and all of the woman at the shower. It was so nice to be away for awhile and know that Sean was being taken care of for the afternoon.

I just realized that I hadn't told you that we finally got the results of Sean's last brain map. Remember, it had been sent to Russia, to Juri Kropotov, PhD, to analyze. We were told that Sean's brain is showing huge improvement in processing. He still has two specific areas in his brain that were "idling". The way it was explained to us is that if you think about putting a car with a standard shift into neutral and then stepped on the gas, it wouldn't matter how much gas you gave the engine, you would not get the car to move.

This now gives the doctor's some specific protocol to order for Sean with the brain lab, so he will be working with the computers to try to redirect his brain and get those spots to "shake, rattle and roll" again.

We will begin driving down to Austin on Monday's now, and stay through Friday, so that Sean can get all of his therapy in.

Expect big things now!

Thank you for caring and Thank you for sharing,
Sean's MoM, Jenny Carter

Read Journal History

Hospital Information:

Sean is Home!

Dallas, TX 75218

Links:

E-mail Author: jenny@whenseanspeaks.com

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