Rebuilding Lives After Brain Injury
WINTER 2018
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Neuro News A newsletter from NeuroRestorative NeuroRestorative Participant Works to Prevent Brain Injury Vicki Boyles of Georgetown, Kentucky, suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2004 as a result of a motor vehicle accident. “I was driving home in Missouri after volunteering at an auction and I was stopped at a light when an impaired driver slammed into the back of my car,” Boyles said. She was 46 at the time of the accident and not wearing a seat belt. Prior to her accident, Vicki was working for a local newspaper in Independence, MO and actively participating in multiple volunteer projects. Vicki’s brain injury left her struggling with visual deficits, emotional instability and impulsivity. In May, 2011, she entered the NeuroRestorative Kentucky residential program to address these challenges. While attending the program, Vicki rediscovered her love for volunteering. With help from her treatment team, Vicki volunteered at the Kentucky Wildlife Center for 5 years. She has since moved into her own apartment, and continues to access outpatient services from NeuroRestorative.
“I had been trying to find a way to do something to give back,” Vicki said. “Who better to talk to people about brain injury prevention than a person who has been through it?”
Vicki Boyles completes a helmet fitting at The Festival of the Horse
Vicki recently became the Community Relations Officer for TJ’s Warriors–a volunteer organization dedicated to providing bicycle helmets to children. Although the organization only recently started, they are already making an impact. At the Festival of the Horse in September, Vicki and her colleagues teamed up with the Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky to distribute nearly 100 helmets to children in the Georgetown, Kentucky community.
“The mission of TJ’s Warriors is to protect children one helmet at a time,” said Boyles. According to their website, “TJ’s Warriors was inspired by TJ Floyd and his fight back after Traumatic Brain Injury. On April 21, 2010, at age 7, TJ was riding his bicycle when he flipped over the handlebars and hit his head. TJ was not wearing a helmet.” Vicki is also a recent recipient of the Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky’s (BIAK) AIM Award for volunteer service. She has since joined the Board of Directors for the Lexington, Kentucky Chapter of BIAK and plans to advocate for rehabilitation services funding at upcoming Medicaid forums. To learn more about TJ’s Warriors and BIAK, visit tjswarriors.org and biak.us