The One That Changed My Life – mTBI

The next BIG BANG was the one that changed my life forever.

mTBI – Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Isn’t it strange that the words mild and traumatic sit side by side? Whoever named it clearly never lived through one.

I can tell you from experience that there was absolutely nothing mild about what happened to me.

It was 2018.

I was replacing the floor in my horse float ramp. The bolts wouldn’t budge, so I decided to split the ramp. One side was upright in the travelling position, while I was pushing the other side down. Unfortunately, that side still had the heavy steel spring attached, making it incredibly difficult to lower.

As I strained against it, I noticed the other side beginning to fall.

Instinct took over.

Without even thinking, I threw my hands up to protect myself.

The next second, the full force of the ramp slammed into the top of my head, while the spring-loaded side smashed up underneath my jaw.

At the same time, a metal clip that protruded from the ramp ripped across my chest.

The pain was immediate and searing.

For several minutes I lay there, stunned, dizzy, unable to think clearly and unable to get to my feet. Eventually I managed to get to my feet, only to realise my arm was trapped between the two halves of the ramp. Somehow I freed myself and stumbled back to the house.

I felt dazed.

My head was pounding.

My chest was burning where the metal had torn through it.

I grabbed a cold cloth for my chest and spent the rest of the day sitting there, trying to convince myself I was okay.

But I wasn’t.

That night was frightening.

Something felt terribly wrong.

I couldn’t see properly. My head was throbbing. Every time I drifted off to sleep, I’d wake again. I couldn’t settle, something wasn’t right.

By the following day I thought I was improving. I took pain medication and carried on.

The day after that, I went back to work as a courier driver.

As I stood sorting the mail, I kept losing my place. The writing in front of me seemed to move and was extremely difficult to focus on. I couldn’t remember what I had just done. Then, while out driving a route I knew well, I became confused.

Lost.

On roads I’d driven countless times. Couldn’t remember where mailboxes were…..

The dizziness hit again, my balance effected, now with nausea and pain. Confusion followed. My world no longer made sense.

It was time to call the doctor.

I had no idea that one decision to fix a horse float would mark the beginning of a journey that would change every part of my life.

At the time they called it concussion and that I would feel better after a few weeks…. So I waited….