TBI patients use art to spread awareness of brain injury
A number of people who have suffered traumatic brain injury recently displayed their artwork at a show as part of National Traumatic Brain Injury Day in Mississippi. One of the artists was Richard Stafford. Stafford along with the other artists participated in the Unmasking Traumatic Brain Injury project through the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services. […]
A number of people who have suffered traumatic brain injury recently displayed their artwork at a show as part of National Traumatic Brain Injury Day in Mississippi.
One of the artists was Richard Stafford.
Stafford along with the other artists participated in the Unmasking Traumatic Brain Injury project through the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services.
According to an article published by Djournal.com, the masks were on display at the department’s Tupelo district office last Wednesday as part of the national holiday.
“It allows brain injury survivors an opportunity to share their stories,” Allison Lowther said in the article, who serves as the department’s coordinator for the traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury trust fund. “It’s often an invisible disability.”
The artist took bits and pieces of their life and incorporated it into their masks. Stafford, a professed Christian, said he decorated his mask to reflect the power of prayer – and of course, his love of Mississippi State University. Some of the other artists used words of encouragement and flashy colors to decorate their masks.
“There are nearly 1,000 Mississippians living with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, said Anita Naik, director of the office of special disability programs,” the article reads. “The goal is to reintegrate individuals back into the community and help them live as independently as possible.”
Stafford described to the newspaper how he was injured. He said he was just 20-years-old when he was driving under the influence and crashed his truck. That crash left him in a coma for three weeks. When he finally came out of the coma, he still was unable to respond for months.
His mother was told by doctors that he would never be able to function independently again. That he would never walk again, and that he would never talk again.
Stafford says the most difficult part for him was feeling trapped inside his body. His brain was slowly healing and he was reportedly alert, but he was unable to communicate to others.
“When I gave it all to God, it got better,” Stafford said.
With time, he regained the ability to use his left side, his ability to eat and his ability to talk. While once he was completely dependent on other people to move him, he gained the ability to move himself into his wheelchair – and even the ability to button his shirt with one hand.
“He can take steps with the support of a walker,” the article reads. “He has become an ordained preacher.”
Stafford’s message to others is to never give up, never quit.
“With God, all things are possible,” he said.
