The Mike Drury Movement

On Saturday, August 13, 2011 my life changed forever. It was early evening, and I was driving back home with my mom from seeing my daughter in Charlottesville, VA. We were almost home when a distracted driver drove an SUV through a red light at more than full speed. The distracted driver t-boned my Nissan Sentra on the passenger side, killing my mom instantly. During the impact I sustained many critical injuries including a subdural hematoma (bleeding from the brain), skull fractures, a collapsed lung, a broken collar bone, and broken ribs (among other injuries.) I was rushed to the nearest hospital in critical condition, but they were not equipped to handle my injuries. I was medevacked to Fairfax Hospital (this is not how I wanted my first helicopter ride to go) where I went in to immediate brain surgery as soon as I arrived. I was in touch-and-go surgery for several hours. Fortunately the neurosurgeon was able to stop the bleeding. (Thank you, Dr. Hamilton, for saving my life!) When I came out of surgery, I had 30+ staples in my head where they had operated on my brain. I had a chest tube put in during surgery to drain the fluid that was collecting in my collapsed lung, and a feeding tube in my stomach. The doctors put me into a medically-induced coma hoping it would give my body time to adjust and begin to heal.

 

 

After several days of being in the Trauma Intensive Care Unit (TICU) the doctors tried to bring me out of my medically-induced coma, but to no avail. I had fallen into a coma on my own anyway. My outlook was very bleak, and although they couldn’t bring themselves to tell my wife, they were doubtful that I would pull through. I was moved to the Medical Neuro Intensive Care Unit where they did a tracheotomy to assist with my breathing. Almost a week later, I was moved to the Intermediate Care Unit where I finally began to come out of my coma. After a few days of regaining consciousness I was transported to Mount Vernon Hospital where I underwent three weeks of intensive physical, speech, and occupational therapies. I had to learn how to walk and talk all over again. Worst of all I lost who I was in the accident because of the traumatic brain injury (TBI). My brain doesn’t function the way it used to, and I have had to learn how to read and write all over again (numbers are still hard for me). A week or so into my therapies I had my stomach tube removed along with my trachea tube. Almost seven weeks after the accident, I was released to go home. After leaving the hospital I continued to receive all three therapies at home. I was dismissed from physical therapy a few months later, and occupational therapy several months after that.

 

 

I am still continuing to receive speech therapy to this day, and have not been able to return to work since the accident due to the cognitive issues I now have, permanently, due to the brain injury. Now I’m trying to rebuild my life, since I’m an only child who was raised by a single mother. My mother was taken from me way too early; my biggest supporter is now gone. It hasn’t been easy. Luckily, I had the best fiancée at the time of the accident, who is now my wife. (She’s a Loudoun County Public Schools teacher.) Prior to the accident I was host of an online sports talk radio show. We broadcasted live from the private dining room at Paolo’s on 04/28/11. During the show I proposed to my fiancée. We planned to marry on the same date the following year, but then the accident happened. Instead, we were married 11/11/11. It was a beautiful, low-key wedding at Paolo’s Ristorante. (I want to give a special thank you to Paolo’s and Chef Steve for hosting our special day and preparing a decadent meal. I also want to thank Jess for a delicious, hand-made wedding cake. It was all divine!)

 

 

My only regrets about that day are that my mom couldn’t be there, and we didn’t have a dance (among other things) since I was still recovering from the accident which had happened three months earlier. After the wedding we weren’t able to go on our honeymoon because I wanted to recover more so I could enjoy and remember it. (My memory isn’t what it used to be due to my traumatic brain injury. I will always have issues because of my brain injury, but I was useless the first two years after the accident.) The long road to recovery began. I wake up every day and do Lumosity to help improve my cognitive functioning. Then I take out my therapy dog, Lucky. (I love him with all my heart!) Next, I do my homework-yes, homework! My speech therapist gives me homework to do every week between sessions. Only recently did I get my ability to drive back. I had to pass a special driving test given to people with brain injuries in order to drive again. I have become much more conscious of people’s driving habits which is where I am now, trying to make a difference. I see people driving and talking on their cell phones every day. Driving and talking on a cell phone is the new drunk driving. It’s SO dangerous, just like back in the day when people didn’t have to wear seat belts. It’s time to make that change.

 

 

I understand Americans don’t like to be told what to do, but when people are dying and it’s preventable, something needs to be done. If you agree, please sign My Petition. I’m not the same person I was before August 13th of 2011.

 

Not many people get a chance to start life over. I did, and I know the reason why I’m still alive-to help make the roads safer for us all...

 

My Story