We recently connected with Megan Hurley and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Megan, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I am a traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor from a 2008 accident. My life changed from being a teacher at 29 years old to living on disability facing lifelong mental & physical deficits in a world filled with unknowns for what the future held. I needed to make a choice: feel sorry for myself or start over with eyes wide open. I embraced the second chance with which I have been blessed & never looked back. Suddenly waking up out of a coma with a disability is life-changing. My mental deficits include cognition, focus & communication challenges. I found support from the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation & their resources of community. Toastmasters is where I’m re-learning how to focus my thoughts. It takes brain injury survivors five times longer to process information coming in & going out. As a former teacher of English, the biggest challenge is being able to form thoughts into words & words into sentences & then together to deliver with the emotions & tone with which they are worthy & the voice they carry.

My most meaningful project has been to use my voice. I stand up & tell my story because I needed to hear this 16 years ago when I felt alone. I wanted something good to come from what I learned. I won’t be a silent survivor. I’m telling my story so others know they can. I volunteer in the community to raise awareness for advocacy & empowerment. I’m an Ambassador for the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation (SDBIF) & on the Board of the Peer Support Network. I published my memoir, Hope Survives: Strength After a Traumatic Brain Injury (on Amazon with all proceeds donated to SDBIF). I’ve been a featured speaker for Leap to Success; a nonprofit organization for women battling life obstacles, with other nonprofit organizations & at Toastmasters District Events.

Megan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

In 2008 I walked into a library & an ambulance took me out. I had a seizure, fell back on the marble floor, fractured my skull & started bleeding into my brain resulting in a traumatic brain injury. A TBI is an impact to the skull from an external force that causes a change in brain function.

I received no PT or OT. After being bedridden for six weeks, I needed to strengthen my body & start moving. I took group exercise classes at the YMCA & hated every second. My body could only step side to side, not up to the coordination & intensity of the class. I finally took a Zumba class & it was magic. Zumba is a dance fitness community focused on inclusion & celebration. I did my side-to-side stepping & got high-fives. That class was the first time I felt like a person & not a patient.

The most important thing I learned is that I am not alone. My husband, Bob, walks by my side to every doctor’s appointment & test. He makes our home as safe as possible. Bob reminds me that I am not broken, especially when I forget. Every night he says he’s proud of me for the progress I make. This strength helps me become part of other people’s support teams.

There are times I forget that my stamina is different. After 3 hours, My brain runs out of energy before my body & shuts down for a few days. At first, this made me feel weak. BUT the truth is that I’m resilient. My body fought to stay alive & still does. I can’t do the same things in the same way as I could before. That doesn’t take away or minimize what I do now. I’m not weak because I have a brain injury. I am strong because I am living with a brain injury.
The transformation has been rebuilding my mind & body.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Brain injury survivors don’t make it this far to pack it in. I learned to become my own healthcare advocate in a way I never should have needed to. My first neurologist treated me for 2 years without any progress because he claimed that I was faking my seizures to get my husband’s attention. He asserted that there was nothing neurologically wrong with me. I had my file sent home & read every word of it. The brain injury was not mentioned once. I visited neurologist after neurologist. None of them listened to me as the patient. If they didn’t see a seizure, they wrote me off as not having a seizure disorder. I went for test after test, hospital visits, and studies, all to no avail. Finally, I found a TBI-specialist neurologist. He was the 6th doctor I saw & I’ve been with him for 13 years. I never gave up on my body & didn’t stop until I found a doctor who fights with me.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to bring a voice to brain injury & other invisible disabilities that have been ignored & are in need of recovery resources now more than ever. We don’t have a celebrity voice who brings the spotlight & attention to brain injury, so I keep using my voice each & every day until someone listens. My goal is to help 1 person–to be a resource for 1 person, 1 caregiver & help someone feel less alone.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hurleyhopesurvives/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/megan.l.hurley/
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-hurley-25671820b
• Twitter: https://x.com/MegTBIstrong

Image Credits

Bob Hurley