The month of March has been observed throughout the disability community as Brain Injury Awareness Month. Just a few weeks ago, ABC news reporter Bob Woodruff, in a television special entitled, “To Iraq and Back,” documented his own experience with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
In January 2006 Woodruff suffered severe head injuries as a result of a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq. In his television special, Woodruff also showed the unmet needs of returning soldiers who have been wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Over 23,000 soldiers have returned home with disabilities acquired in the line of duty. Brain injuries account for approximately two-thirds of the known injuries suffered in the war — although it is estimated that at least 10 percent of soldiers and marines that have served may have undiagnosed brain injuries.
Reportedly since the onset of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, traumatic brain injuries have accounted for a higher proportion of casualties than in other wars.
Along with the estimated 5.3 million Americans already living with disabilities resulting from traumatic brain injury, these servicemen and -women face an array of advocacy needs that can be provided nationally by the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (PATBI) program, and locally by the Disability Rights Center of the Virgin Islands.
As a community, we owe it to ourselves, our family and neighbors to learn more about the life-altering consequences of traumatic brain injury. If we do nothing, the economic and social costs will be enormous.
Amelia Headley LaMont is the executive director of the Disability Rights Center of the Virgin Islands (DRCVI), a nonprofit organization. DRCVI is the only territorywide organization that provides legal services to eligible persons with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities.