This is a part of podcast series from the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center on Disorders of Consciousness. Hannah Strom shares her journey from surviving a traumatic brain injury to helping others recover as a rehab aide. 

So I actually did just get a job as a rehab aide at Spaulding in Plymouth, and that has been great so far. And I'm just so grateful that I can even get a job because from where I was, I can't believe I've come so far to be at this point where I can work a full day.

Now I’m a rehab aide, and it does bring me joy. I've been the rehab aide for the past four summers at Spaulding where I myself did therapy. And it's weird to just be in the therapy gym on the third floor and see some of the therapists who were helping me in my rehabilitation. It's just like thanks to them, I can now help patients get back to their old life. And I do remember specifically there was this one patient, and he was only in here in Spaulding for two weeks and they were extending his stay by a week. And he was so mad about it, and he was complaining. And he's like, I just want to go home. And he's like, that's it. I'm not doing physical therapy. I validated his feelings and I was like, I know how it feels to want to go home. Trust me. I get it.

But I told him, I was, I was here for almost five months. They were also extending my stay when I was here because my physical therapist saw progress in me, and she wanted to keep me for another week. I even remember my mom telling me, they would ask her, they would be like, Gail, we see progress in Hannah. Do you mind staying another week? And my mom wanted to get home of course, but she wanted to get me back. So it was no question. She was like, sure, if you're seeing progress, keep her here.

And I was like, I'm very grateful that they extended my stay because now I'm here and I get to help you. Right after I said that, he got right out of bed; and he was like, you know what Hannah? He goes, that made me feel so much better. And he was like, I am being a big baby. He's like, I'm crying over an extra week when I've only been in here for two weeks. That's it, let's do physical therapy. So he got right out of bed; and it just made me feel so great that I could make somebody feel that way, do therapy themselves and try to get their life back. So that just made me smile. 

Visit https://msktc.org/tbi and get the answers you need from experts who conduct innovative and high-quality research, provide patient care, and work to improve the health and overall quality of life for people with traumatic brain injury. That’s https://msktc.org/tbi.