Elizabeth Kenney: Life After Brain Injury
In 2006, Elizabeth Kenney was 26 years old and living in Washington, D.C., with her boyfriend, Aaron. One of her good friends had bought a house in Oregon, and several friends traveled there to celebrate over the 4th of July, including Elizabeth and Aaron. After going out for drinks, the group decided to walk home. As they walked, a car came barreling down the sidewalk at 45 mph and struck them as they tried to get out of the way.
Elizabeth and Aaron were both badly injured. Elizabeth’s brain was bleeding in four places, her zygomatic arch was broken, her left arm was shattered into more than a hundred pieces, her left shin was broken, her right ankle was sprained, and her lungs were damaged, among other injuries. Thankfully, the accident occurred near a large hospital that was able to provide the level of care Elizabeth needed, and her providers put her into a medically-induced coma to keep her alive.
The Challenging Years
When she woke up from the coma, Elizabeth could only speak French (which she spoke almost fluently prior to the accident) and had a lot of trouble communicating in English. She didn’t recognize anyone, including her parents, her sister, or Aaron. She was at the hospital in Oregon for about a month before being airlifted back to New Hampshire to Crotched Mountain. Elizabeth doesn’t remember a lot from those days, but she remembers not wanting to be there and wanting to go home. She was in a wheelchair and kept trying to get up before she could walk, and sometimes she would take her socks off, ball them up, and throw them at people—a fact that now gives her a good chuckle.
After being released from Crotched Mountain, Elizabeth went to live with her parents. “Both my parents’ lives became centered around taking care of me,” Elizabeth shared. “I couldn’t live alone, and I wasn’t very easy to live with. I made my mom cry most days, and I said and did horrible things, which I don’t remember doing.” Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s entire life became therapy: physical, occupational, and speech therapies filled her days. “Recovery was really bad and tough, and there were times when this was not a life I wanted and I didn’t want to stick around.” Therapies and her family helped Elizabeth get through the hardest days, and eventually things did get better. Dance therapy was a powerful experience for her and antidepressants helped immensely with her post-injury depression.
The New Normal
Now, 17 years after the accident that completely changed the trajectory of her life, Elizabeth is happy and living a full life. She lives in Peterborough with her husband Michael and their dog, Lulu. She volunteers at Monadnock Community Hospital in the window shop, and she serves on the Board of the Monadnock Developmental Services (MDS) and on the Board of the Brain Injury Association of NH, using her experience to advocate for other brain injury survivors. She’s super close with her family, and she loves hanging out with her niece and nephew. Life is good.
“Finding your new normal is tough,” Elizabeth said. “You’re questioning yourself—is this me, is this my new normal? It’s always moving and changing, and I’ve had to understand that I’m going to keep moving forward, while also accepting that the person I was before my injury is gone. I’m still me in the depths of me, but that person from before is gone.” She added, “You have to swim through a lot of darkness to get to that new normal, but it’s worth it.” Elizabeth is also a big proponent of finding what works for each person. For her, music and dance were the at-home therapies that she found could really help ground her and lift her spirits when she was struggling. “Find something that helps you be yourself and works for you. That’s going to look different for everyone.”
Elizabeth is passionate about supporting other brain injury survivors. Life after injury is filled with challenges, and she knows that, in some ways, she is very fortunate. “People get dismissed and rejected, and I’m so lucky that my family was emotionally, physically, and financially there for me in every way. I have an amazing family, and I’m so grateful for them.” For survivors new to the brain injury journey, she shared her advice to “Stick by the people who really love you and are really trying to help you. They will be your rock when you feel like you are drowning. The strength of their love will help keep you alive.”
For those facing the challenges of life with a brain injury, know there is hope and help available. For information about the Brain Injury Association of NH, visit www.bianh.org. For information on suicide prevention, visit www.zerosuicidesnh.org.