MARCH IS BRAIN INJURY AWARENESS MONTH..............THIS IS VERY PERSONAL TO OUR FAMILY. MY DAUGHTER THAT HAS BEEN PERMANTLY AFFECTED BY SECONDARY IMPACT SYNDROME WILL BE SPEAKING WITH ME THIS MONTH AT A LEGISLATIVE MEETING TO RAISE AWARENESS OF REPEAT CONCUSSION AND LONG TERM RESULTS OF PREVENTIIVE HEAD INJURY.

 For anyone that does not know her situation, she was hurt on playground equipment at school a year and a half ago . She was diagnosed with a severe concussion.....a condition that should have healed just fine in time...not uncommon. A month later while not having clearance for any physical activity by a dr and while still being in a wheelchair to avoid injury as she was very dizzy, she got hit by a ball in a gym. She has had another repeat injury since then. We are very lucky shes alive as many children hit with a secondary impact injury do not live or are brain dead. We went to the Boston Childrens Hospital over the Summer which helped tremendously. She was left with permanent damage including seizures. She has relearned lots, is in Special Ed now, must have a helper with her at all times, has severe headaches, trouble sleeping, emotional and personality changes , nausea, memory loss and troublle with short term memory. She will NEVER be able to participate in sports as the Neurologists say she will not live through any other impact on the injured area. She can only learn part time as overstiumulation causes her to lose more memory and causes seizure activity. Shes been through lots of therapy............emotionallly and physically. She looks like most other kids but her life isnt anything like it used to be. After half a million dollars in medical expenses and our life being turned upside down, Disability determined she is eligible for SSI as this disability will be life long. Now dont get me wrong , we've been seeing a great improvement the last month or two after adding her last medication. (Thats a total of 14 pills a day) . So we are very thankful for that so at least she'll have some safety net as we just don't know where life is going to lead her.

Ultimately, accidents happen. We totally get that.............in normal sports like football, helmets are necessary.There are alot of publicity about Concussion. It needs to be taken a step further into how Concussion can lead to a permanent TBI or death with overstimulation or reinjury. On playgrounds , theres only so much protection that can be given. We are trying to get bills passed to help raise awareness of Secondary impact Syndrome. Our local group has 15 members...two of which had children DIE from this.This Syndrome also can be progressive... Alzheimers doubles in likelihood with children with even a mild TBI if experienced in childhood. Stroke is 30 percent more likely in children that experience repeat concussions in childhood. Mental health is almost always a problem after TBI. With Arionna's Neurologists in Indy and Boston Hospital, we've compiled the long term affects of repeat injury of the head to present to pursue legislation for protection of other children. Its 17 pages long.

We need signatures to get this passed. If you would like to see laws be put in place to protect children, education be provided to schools, parents etc and awareness of what a permanent TBI is , even a mild one, and how it can leave a child with long term disabilities, please consider signing our petition.

Thank you.....................................................Keith and Renee Klingler

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *****According to the Brain Injury Association, traumatic brain injury is the most frequent cause of disability and death among children and adolescents in the United States. Each year, more than a million children sustain brain injuries, ranging from mild to severe trauma.