Darian's Story

Darian has a Doctorate in Physical Therapy and was in a terrible accident 4 years ago and suffered a traumatic brain injury. She was in a coma for 7 months. Since coming out of the coma we have watched her making great strides in her recovery. The feeding tube came out within 2 weeks of her coming out of the coma and she is feeding herself with her left hand.

Her right hand is slowly coming around. She is able to actively flex her right shoulder to about 90 degrees and is working on supination as well as wrist extension on the right. She is now able to open her right hand most of the way and tries to use it. Darian is pulling up to stand and is able to move her left leg in standing. She requires maximum assistance to move her right leg, but we see the extensor tone slowly letting go. She pivot tranfers into her wheelchair with minimum assistance. She is able to repeat words and give us an answer if given a choice of 2 to 3 words to pick from. She laughs and understands what we tell her.

We have watched Darian make steps in her recovery over the last 4 years, albeit slow, but it is there everyday. I know that I have learned that recovery is possible for years following an accident and we know her family will never give up as she continues on her road to recovery.

Written by Darian's Mom, Libby Aira