January 8th, 2019
Jing Wu interviewed Christopher Noah
Christopher Noah is a brain injury survivor as a result of an automobile accident that occurred on May 25th, 1981. Recently, he has been more vocal and excited about encouraging other individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). One of his favorite mantras is: “Never say never!!”
1. How did your brain injury happen?
My TBI was because of a single car automobile accident, which took my girlfriends life.
2. What was your experience like in the hospital?
I was in the hospital for 3 months starting with a coma for 17 days. I was on life support and when I woke up my first memory of that time was my sister telling me that Betty had passed away but I had no idea who Betty was. It was like someone had taken an eraser to my chalkboard of life. There was a picture of Betty and I that had been taken the day of the accident on my nightstand. A medical person asked me how old I was [and] I said 14 [though] I was 24 at the time. He asked my name, I did not know, he asked where I lived, I did not know. He asked me my [social security] number and without hesitation, I spit it out at him and I remember my sister’s mouth drop. That is where my journey starts. Monroe Community Hospital is where I spent 3 months to getting started on my rehab to get me walking again.
3. What was the most challenging part of your healing journey?
I can’t really say any one thing was the most challenging thing. Everyday was a new challenge…even to this day.
4. What was one of your most triumphant moments after having your brain injury?
There were many triumphs in my recovery but the first was that I had a Honda 500 motorcycle that I was told I would never ride again, yeah right, that year I was doin’ wheelies.
5. What advice would you give other individuals with brain injury?
Not a day goes by that I do not have some sort of achievement in my thought and recall and ability to make corrections to the things people talk about. Never say never! You got this! 1 day atta time!
6. What advice would you give to people without brain injury about people with brain injury?
I can’t really give advice on how to treat a person with a TBI except to treat them like everyone else. I say this because for me and the way to my recovery was to be like everyone else, even though the feeling I got sometime made me feel inadequate; but [in] the end result was all that mattered. My advice to all non-TBI individuals is to join this or any other support group and just sit in the back of the room and just “listen”.
Editor: Jing Wu
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