The body is the instrument of our hold on the world.
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
CBR15Bingo: Hold Steady square.
This has been on my TBR list for a while. I loosely followed Drew Magary, starting with his annual takedown/tribute to Williams Sonoma Christmas catalog and with the occasionally Pajiba Love link to Deadspin (RIP). When I found out he’d had a brush with death, I did a quick scan of news articles to find out what the hell had happened to a seemingly healthy-ish person roughly the same age as me. And that he could write a freaking book (one of many) after this life-altering event.
I am the last person to ask when one is looking for answers about the ins and outs of head injuries or any injuries for that matter. When you read that someone experiences a traumatic brain injury (or TBI, as I learned from reading this book), you don’t usually expect that story to have a happy ending.
After reading this book, I don’t think that there is a happy ending to Drew’s story. Yes, he got incredibly lucky to get timely and thorough treatment immediately after his injury. And, based on his account and the accounts of his friends and family that were interviewed for this book, the extent of his recovery is downright miraculous. Still, the story is heartbreaking. The loss of hearing, smell, and taste to varying degrees is terrifying. I mean, we’re taught in grade school that the brain controls everything but damn. I don’t know how I would cope with being told that not only one of my ears is completely dead, but that I may never be able to smell or taste my favorite foods again. Granted, in the grand scheme of things, if you can still walk, talk, and mostly function as you did before the extremely traumatizing event, then you’re doing pretty good. But damn…..damn.
One thing this book does very well is explain the amount of anguish and stress that Drew’s family endured. As he said, he isn’t the one who had to sit there day after day in the ICU wondering if he would ever wake up. He passed out at a party and woke up weeks later in a hospital bed. His wife, kids and friends had to learn how to interact with the new post-incident Drew. The accident did change his personality. It did affect the relationships he had with those closest to him. From how he describes his behavior during his first year of convalescence, living with him sounds like a heartbreaking experience for everyone involved.
In summary, protect your noggin. Although wearing a helmet wouldn’t have been expected on the night of the incident (drinking at a bar with your friends), I’m never getting on anything, be it bike or board, without full cranial protection.