Miss America Contestant Shares Story of Traumatic Brain Injury
This year’s Miss Pennsylvania Samantha Lambert is using her platform to tell others about the issues surrounding traumatic brain injury.
Read More: Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer in Wisconsin
According to an article by Penn Live, the 22-year-old Pittsburgh resident was crowned in June and participated in the 2017 Miss America Competition in Atlantic City, N.J., which was broadcasted on ABC on Sunday.
Lambert’s platform for the competition in Atlantic City was brain injury awareness. And not just for any reason. Lambert has a personal connection to traumatic brain injury.
“I had a head injury when I was 15 years old from gymnastics,” she said. “It took me over three years to recover from that, during which I was a part-time student for the rest of high school, and I was also not able to be in my athletic environment anymore.”
Lambert said she wants to promote traumatic brain injury as well as the care that Children’s Miracle Network hospitals provide.
“I really struggled with finding the proper resources of how to recover, and finding the right doctors, and finding the right way to communicate with my teachers about the new course load I could handle, so I really hope that I can go out and promote and share those resources with others.”
Lambert reportedly participated in Love Your Brain’s rehabilitation yoga program for brain injury patients earlier this year. She says in the article that it is great to see so many creative ideas for helping brain injury patients, and programs like this help patients to heal as well as build a sense of community.
“On Wednesday, Lambert performed her acrobatic dance routine for the talent show portion of the pageant. She said watching the Olympic gymnasts helped inspire her during preparation for the competition. Lambert, who coaches children’s gymnastics, also told her students to watch her on TV,” the article reads. “Lambert is working toward a degree in industrial engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
