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By Lainie Cohen |
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“Each
day in “In
the United States, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people incur Traumatic Brain
Injury each year, principally as a result of vehicular accidents, falls, acts
of violence and sports activities.” National
Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference Statement Crooked
Smile brings to life
the story of Daniel Cohen, one person who contributes to these statistics,
and reveals what the numbers don’t share – the potentially devastating impact
of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on other family members. In an idyllic
cottage setting, Lainie Cohen and her husband received the phone call – the
one every parent of a teenager dreads. Their seventeen-year-old son had been
badly injured in a car crash. This book
takes readers through the harrowing journey of coma and dismal medical
prognoses, of uncertain outcomes and improbable gains. The Cohens find their
lives put on hold. All they can focus on is the struggle to bring their son
back to life. A social worker cautions them that their marriage is at risk,
but there are no warnings for other unexpected events. Within months of
Daniel’s injury, his younger brother becomes involved with drugs and his
sister suffers a physical collapse that puts her in a wheelchair. Crooked
Smile will appeal
to anyone who knows, loves, or works with someone who has sustained a brain
injury. But you don’t have to have a personal or professional connection to
brain trauma to be drawn to this book. General readers will be moved by the
universal elements of this tale: loss, grief, friendship, hope, forgiveness
and acceptance. Crooked
Smile is more
than a documentation of brain injury and family tragedy. It is filled with
hope and celebration for life’s small successes. Lainie Cohen has over twenty-five years of experience as an educator and a psychological consultant. She has been editor of an education manual on brain injury, co–author of a pamphlet for family physicians about minor brain injury and a public speaker at TBI conferences. |
