
Kurt Roelke
Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor
On July 4th 2012, Kurt suffered a traumatic brain injury. Doctors told his fiancée (now wife) and family on several occasions that there was “no hope, that he would be in a vegetative state all his life.” But his wife Lisa said that she felt an overwhelming presence of God and felt that God had other plans for Kurt.
show moreKurt was enjoying a fun evening of festivities at family friends’ home in California where he was living at the time of his injury. It was an act of violence by a stranger that Kurt was punched on the temple knocking him unconscious on contact causing him to fall back onto the concrete sidewalk and hitting his head. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was admitted into the ICU still unconscious. The doctors placed Kurt in an induced coma to allow the brain swelling to go down. A few weeks later, still in a coma, they were able to transfer him to another hospital where he remained in the ICU for a week, and then released to a Skilled Nursing facility.
“The doctors told us he would be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life,” recalled his wife, Lisa.
About a week later Kurt emerged, saying to Lisa “Something’s wrong in a soft whisper”. He was confused as to what period in his life he was in. He had continued to recover over the weeks until he reached Rancho Scale 4 which affected his performance in physical therapy. He became combative and was given medications to calm him down during his P.T. sessions. Soon a decision was made to stop all therapies due to his aggressive behavior.
After being in a skilled nursing facility for almost 4 years and 2 1/2 years in a family members home, Lisa was finally able to bring Kurt to her home.
It was the onset of covid when Lisa insisted on bringing him home in her care where she began working with him 24-7 during the Covid shutdown. He began making strides. Kurt finally got to marry the love of his life, the little girl he met in his backyard at the tender age of 5. Kurt and Lisa had both simultaneously been peeking over their adjoining backyard fences and that’s how they met for the first time. A year after marrying they, moved to Florida where his wife Lisa has dedicated her time in getting Kurt all the therapies he needs to improve. “He can speak (although he still needs work on slowing his rate of speech), engages in conversation, reads, writes (although he lives up to the nick name speedy, he needs to slow down in order to improve his penmanship), drives his utility scooter around, and “walks circles” around Lisa with his walker”. His favorite pastime is speed walking with his walker through his local mall. Kurt continues to thrive and is Co-Founder of “Brevard Brain Injury”. He is involved in the Brain Injury support group that meets monthly. Kurt is truly an inspiration and has so much to offer the Brain Injury Community. “It is only by God’s grace, mercy and a multitude of prayers from around the world that Kurt is alive today.”
Lisa never lost faith and despite some frightening moments along the way, Kurt has exceeded all his doctors’ expectations.
“He is a fighter”, and Lisa has no doubt that he’ll make a difference in the lives of those who have suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury and anyone who meets him in his lifetime.
“Lisa has said that she has met so many spouses and parents whose loved ones suffered from brain injuries, and she always tells them not to lose faith”. Never give up because, if you feel God leading you or a feeling deep in your gut calling you to hang on, you hang on tight. That’s what Lisa did with Kurt. She loved him unconditionally and stood by his side supporting him through this journey no matter the obstacles. Other people she’s seen where no one who did this for them haven’t made the same kind of progress.
Lisa also recalls people from all over the world who have prayed for Kurt and continue to pray for Kurt. Lisa say’s “Never underestimate the power of God, for 1 Corinthians 13:13 says “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
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Keith Arbuckle
Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor
On December 9, 2023 I was cycling with a group of elite cyclists who were riding very fast at 25 to 30 mph. Someone in front of me dropped their water bottle and I ran over it and crashed severely. I had to be flown by helicopter to the local hospital and they weren’t sure if I was going to survive.
show moreObviously, this was extremely concerning to my wife and daughters. As you are aware, I survived, but my life has been affected significantly. I was put in a medically induced coma for a few days and in ICU for about a week. After two weeks at Holmes Regional Medical Center, I was transferred by ambulance to Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville for another two weeks and then became a patient at Brooks Brain Injury Rehab. My wife and I were there for close to 4 months total. This was a tremendous blessing in helping me begin recovering. While I was there, they had classes and treatments with their rehab specialists M-F for most of the day. They worked on all kinds of areas trying to help the patients to recover from their brain injuries.
Since the first of April 2024, I am home now and I have been trying to get back to my life before my accident. I was attending a speech and cognitive therapist here in town which ended not long ago. I am still seeing a physiologist who is helping to try and address the remaining issues from my brain injury. I lost most of my right field of vision in both my eyes and this is a real problem for me. I am very grateful that I have recovered enough that I am have been able to return to work and have been able to resume my activities there.
Even though I have had a significant improvement, it is still very challenging to live with the vision issues and a brain injury. As I tell my wife, I feel different almost every day. My psychologist tells me that this is from my brain still trying to fix the broken areas. I still struggle remembering things, especially people’s names which I used to be really good at. I still can’t drive and I used to cycle 150 miles a week, and now only do about 20. There are a number of things that I don’t do anymore which has noticeably changed my life. My wife has been a huge blessing for me and I can’t imagine what it would be like without her.
In conclusion, I am very thankful to the family and friends who have been a tremendous help to me — I don’t think I could have made it this far without them. Please take advantage of the relationships you have and be helpful to those in need. Also, really think about the things you enjoy doing and don’t set them aside as you never know when you might not be able to participate anymore.
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