Elijah Olson

On November 8, 2010, a car accident changed my life. Driving alone during the early evening in rural Pennsylvania, I hit the front-right side of my dad’s 2011 Hyundai Elantra into a telephone pole, which slingshot the driver’s side into a tree. A couple living 500 feet from the accident were at home, immediately called 911, and were able to have medical services arrive at the scene in a short time. Being seventeen years old, I was taken by the Life Lion helicopter to the Penn State Children’’s hospital in Hershey, where they took me to the PICU. I was diagnosed with diffuse axonal injury (DAI), put on ventilation, and was in a non-medically-induced coma. No one knew what to expect.

After being extubated and medically stable, I was transferred to the Penn State Rehabilitation Hospital. There, I went through physical therapy/occupational therapy/speech therapy, and needed to learn how to walk/talk/eat all over again. Thanks to a top-notch rehab regimen, exceptional family and friend support, and continuously reaching milestones almost daily, I was able to be safely discharged to home before Christmas. At home, I went to the out-patient rehabilitation at HealthSouth Rehabilitation, and then began phasing my senior year of high school back in.

Once again, it was thanks to the immense support I received from family/friends/the community, as well as continued determination and resilience that I was able to graduate on time in the Spring of 2011. Graduating high school was merely a stepping stone to my next milestone: attending and successfully graduating from a university. While I ultimately transferred between three different colleges, and took an extra semester, I obtained a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in Health Professions from Shippensburg University. After working as a home health aide/certified nursing aide for a year, I attended Wilkes University’s Accelerated Nursing Program and earned a BSN.

Once I passed my NCLEX and officially became a nurse, I wound up working at the very hospital where I went through my rehab: the Penn State Rehab Hospital. I had an amazing time working there for over five years before transferring to a hospital closer to home. I got the opportunity to work alongside one of my favorite nurses who helped me throughout my recovery. She mentioned to me that I once told her that I was going to get my nursing license and come back to work there (not that I remember saying this!)

If I had to think of one word to describe my journey, from the very start to present day, it would be perseverance. Whether it was my parents, my siblings, my rehab therapist, or my friends, I always had encouragement to keep pushing forward and advance in my healing journey. Even if a setback might have come up, I was always able to continue to press onward to recovery. When I started working with the physical therapist to walk again, it was initially discouraging to realize I didn’t have the strength or balance to walk more than a few feet. Nevertheless, with the help of the rehab staff and encouragement from my family, I persevered. When I began phasing high school back in, I started with the last class of the day, and slowly introduced more classes/more time periods. No matter how difficult it was to get back into a routine for school, I persevered, and not only went back to full-time schooling, but was able to graduate on time.

Something I would tell another individual who sustained a brain injury is: never, ever let anyone put limits on what you can accomplish and how far you can recover. From a statistical standpoint, the vast majority of individuals who sustain a severe case of DAI go into a coma and never wake up. If they wake up, they have severe impairments. I was fortunate enough to have a constant stream of positive encouragement throughout my entire recovery journey. Now that I have two bachelor degrees, a full-time nursing job, and am starting a family, I feel like I’m in a better position now than I would have ever been had I not persevered through my brain injury recovery journey.

Create a variety of goals: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and/or a lifetime goal you wish to accomplish. When you reach your goal, celebrate your accomplishments and recognize your victory, and keep moving on towards the next goal. If and when you encounter a setback, or miss the time-line for achieving your goal, do not let that discourage you at all. The key is perseverance, and realizing that recovery from a brain injury is a long-term journey. Simply reset your goals, understand where you are at and what the next goal is for you, and continue pressing forward. Lean on family, friends, and your community to help boost your encouragement and motivation for recovery. Realize that you are not defined by your brain injury and that your injury will not hold you back from accomplishing any goals you put your mind towards.