By necessity, Eric Redmon has become an expert on brain injuries, and he’s developed a passion to share just a small part of that information with the public, especially the kids. What better time than during March, which is Brain Injury Awareness Month?
“Safety first,” he preaches. “Always protect the head, wearing the helmet, wearing the seat belt ... Skateboarding, bicycle riding, horseback riding — the same thing with all those activities. Protect your head, wear a helmet.”
Redmon has first-hand experience. He’s recovering from a brain injury suffered June 12, 2003, when his Ford Explorer went off the road on Hwy. 326 as he drove to a friend’s birthday party. The vehicle flipped end over end.
In the process, even though he was wearing a seat belt, his head whipped forward, briefly pinching a major artery that feeds the brain, cutting blood flow. The sudden burst of blood when the pinch released did the damage.
“It was kind of like a water hose,” he explains. “The sudden burst of blood damaged the back temporal lobes in the cerebellum.”
The recovery is a work in progress. Now Redmon’s brain sends too much data to his muscles, causing spasms and tightening. His major battle for motor skills relates to trying to relax his muscles. Yet the recovery does continue even seven years after the accident.
In the course of recovering, Redmon and his parents, Angie and Bobby Redmon, learned a lot about brain injuries. They found out, for example, that every 15 seconds someone in the United States suffers a brain injury with leading causes being motor vehicle accidents, falls and sports injuries. They learned about the symptoms that are often overlooked and what should be done when those symptoms appear.
That’s part of the information Redmon hopes to spread. Ultimately, he says, he’d like to start a non-profit organization to make people more aware of brain injuries.
Redmon was a rising junior, an athlete, an ordinary high school student - until June 12, 2003.
Now he’s a motivational speaker, a resource for other people with brain injuries and a missionary of sorts who encourages people to protect themselves.
He recently spoke to the Commerce High School health occupations class, he speaks to groups at churches and schools - including 242 members of Mill Creek High School’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He will speak at the Georgia Utility Contractors Safety Dinner March 18 at the capitol. He’s in contact with several other young people similarly injured, both personally and through his website, ericredmon.com.
But he especially likes talking to high school kids.
He can tell those kids he was one of them - a student, football player, with a girlfriend, a job and a social life - and remind them that life can change in an instant.
He also serves as a resource and an inspiration. His website, established shortly after the accident to keep friends abreast of his recovery now provides brain injury information and links. He’s in contact with kids he’s never met from Florida to Texas who found his website while seeking information to deal with similar injuries.
He also talks to them about attitude, an important aspect of recovery.
“Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it,” he says, quoting from a long discourse on attitude from Chuck Swindoll.
He’s lived up to that, his mother testifies.
“He’s never been depressed,” she said. “He never said, ‘why me?’, he never questioned God. This is just his journey.”
“Prayer works,” is his motto. He firmly believes that the prayers of Commerce residents enabled him to not only survive his accident, but to recover successfully.
Redmon says he’s learned to “use resources” like calendars and his telephone to compensate for short-term memory issues. He navigates with a walker. He works out two hours a day, goes to the BJC Wellness Center two or three times a week and sees a private therapist once a week. A pump and reservoir inserted under his skin keep muscle relaxants flowing for three months at a time.
Somehow, he also manages to operate “Life’s A Party Rentals,” which provides tents, tables, chairs and inflatable playground equipment for parties and special events. One day he’d like to write a book about his experience from a journal he’s kept unfailingly since his accident.
He looks forward to the possibility of new medical breakthroughs that would improve his situation - stem cell research, for example - but in the meantime he has work to do.
“Children’s Healthcare has two people on its logo, Hope, and Will,” Redmon says. “Their names explain where you get your faith from - hope to get better and will to inspire yourself.”
About Brain Injuries
From The Brain Injury Association of America:
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a jolt to the head. The injury can range from mild to severe and can disrupt the way the brain normally works.
An athlete does not need to lose consciousness to sustain a concussion.
You cannot see a concussion, but you might notice some of the symptoms right away. Other symptoms can show up days or weeks after the injury. It is best to see a health care professional if you think you might have had a concussion. An undiagnosed concussion can affect your abilities at school or work and in everyday activities.
Signs & Symptoms Of A Concussion
•nausea
•dizziness or balance problems
•double or fuzzy vision
•sensitivity to light or noise
•headache
•feeling sluggish or tired
•feeling foggy or groggy
•confusion
•trouble concentrating
•trouble remembering
If You’ve Had A Concussion
•never ignore a bump to the head
•tell your coach or teammates
•ask to be taken out of the game
•pay attention to physical changes
•watch out for thinking problems
•talk to parents or teachers about any problems you’re having
•see a health care professional
•get plenty of rest
•return to practice and play only after your brain is healed and your health care professional says it’s okay.
Did You Know?
•A concussion is the most common type of brain injury sustained in sports.
•Most concussions do NOT involve loss of consciousness
•You can sustain a concussion if you do not hit your head. An indirect blow elsewhere on the body can transmit an “impulsive” force to the head and cause a concussion to the brain.
•Multiple concussions can have cumulative and long-lasting life changes.
•Concussions typically do not appear in neuroimaging studies such as MRI and CAT scans.
•An estimated 1.6-3.8 million sports and recreation-related concussions occur in the U.S. each year.
•During 2001-2005, children and youth ages 5-18 accounted for 2.4 million sports-related emergency department visits annually, of which six percent (135,000) involved a concussion.
•Of the 1.4 million traumatic brain injuries sustained by children and adults in the U.S. each year, at least 75 percent are mild and/or concussions.
•Among children and youth ages 5-18, the five leading sports or recreational activities, which account for concussions, include bicycling, football, basketball, playground activities and soccer.
