Sydnee Bauerle
Concussions/Brain Injuries: 1
Cause: Car Accident
Sydnee’s Story
On April 29th of 2021 my life was changed dramatically when a semi truck with a side dump carrying approximately 80 thousand pounds of dirt ran a red right and t-boned me directly on my driver side. The truck had plenty of issues going on and shouldn’t have been driven and the driver should not have even been hired.
From that moment on I fought for my life in a non medically induced coma for a very long approximately 2 1/2 months. I broke my pelvis, had a brain bleed and swelling, traumatic brain injury, laceration in my lung and liver, fracture in my lower back and severe damage to my eyes and face muscles.
When slowly I started to wake up at the Neilsen rehab hospital I was very confused where I was and what had happened to me. My family and therapists had to remind me what I went through every single day. My family took videos of my time there otherwise I wouldn’t remember much due to my brain injury.
I had to relearn basically everything all over again, how to walk, talk, do daily tasks like brush teeth, get dressed, bathe myself. it honestly felt like I was a toddler all over again. I was in the hospital and rehabilitation for 3 whole months and even when I got home, I don’t feel like I was in my right mind quite yet.
I want to call it a freak accident, but placing a truck with ineffective brakes and plenty of other problems on the road and a driver with little to no common sense is not an accident in the slightest.
I am so lucky I am not in a vegetative state but that doesn’t take away from the experience I went through and the absolute hell it was for me and my family to go through. I now can’t fulfill my dreams of becoming a dental hygienist because of memory issues that come with my traumatic brain injury and the double vision I now suffer with as well. This wreck has changed my life forever.
Image shared with permission from Sydnee
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Concussion Connect has provided me a space to learn more about what is going on inside my brain and body, find the words to express how I am feeling, not feel so alone, and learn about and use different resources! It provides a sense of being understood that has been missing since my accident, even brings a sense of understanding myself. - CC Member
