Hello, my name is Dana and more than 7 years ago I suffered a catastrophic AVM rupture on my cerebellum and the bleed hit my brain stem. As a result, I lost half my cerebellum and ALL of my abilities. Very early into my coma no hope was anticipated, and I was ultimately labeled a lost cause. But even though my story seemed to have reached it’s end it was far from over. Before my injury I was seemingly completely healthy. Freshly out of the rehab hospital I was still HEAVILY impaired and far from regaining my abilities. I still couldn’t talk, swallow, use my right hand functionally or walk on my own. Now, I’m still actively working on getting my abilities back but I don’t have to work so hard anymore. After years of therapy I can do everything with assistance! It definitely takes time but you can get your life back as I have been doing throughout my journey. I had to put in work into EVERYTHING. When you don’t have to worry about regaining abilities that seemed easy before, it can sound intimidating but when you’re forced to overcome the most daunting obstacle of your life then you have no other choice. You can either do nothing and get nowhere or get busy to regain what you’ve lost. The choice ultimately relies upon the person and I for one wanted to regain my life! I had to quite literally start from having nothing so everything that I can do now is a result of my years of hard work and God’s grace. I couldn’t have gotten this far without my family’s support. My mom is even going to take me back to school in the fall so I can pick up where I left off! If someone asked me, hard experiences shape you into a stronger, better person and if someone is going through it too then they should know it happened for a reason. No matter how long it takes, have faith that it won’t rain forever.

Before I connected with the Niekro Foundation, I was searching for different support groups that I could join to meet people that went through similar challenges that I had to go through. Now that I have connected with the Niekro Foundation and joined the community, I feel less alone and more understood. The Young Adult Brain Aneurysm and AVM Support Group hosted by the Niekro Foundation helped me not feel as lonely and gives me a meeting to look forward to every month filled with people who are grateful to still be here and help and support one another. Being able to connect with others that understand exactly what I am experiencing makes all the difference and I look forward to every month. The Facebook support group has also been my outlet since I always post about my recovery and inspire others in the meantime.

My words of hope and advice to other survivors is recovery is a process that may take more time than you expect but it’s something I had to come to terms with. Now I’m on my sixth year of recovery. Remember that no matter how hard it is it won’t always be like this. As long as you keep pushing yourself then one day you’ll get to look back and feel stronger and better than you were before! It will all be worth it!