To the editor:
Recent remarks by President Trump regarding the Traumatic Brain Injuries received by numerous individuals as a result of the Iranian missile attack on Jan. 8 were quite alarming and totally improper.
TBI injuries from mild to severe and all in between are serious and can have lasting effects on the individual’s ability to function in their world. It disturbs me that our President is so ill informed or not informed at all.
I worked at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center’s Brain Injury Program for 19 years. I also facilitate our Brain Injury and Stroke Support Group with my friends and survivors. We meet at MCH, first Tuesdays of each month at 6 p.m. We have witnessed the devastating results of TBI. Some are very obvious. A wheel chair and the inability to speak. And then we have the “walking wounded” too who speak clearly and walk upright. Some have serious memory issues along with other less obvious cognitive challenges. These issues often have lasting effects whether it is from a concussive injury or an automobile accident, a fall or a stroke.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars have asked that President Trump apologize for his misguided remarks: “TBI is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly,” the VFW statement reads. “TBI is known to cause depression, memory loss, severe headaches, dizziness and fatigue – all injuries that come with both short- and long-term effects.”
Learn more: join us at our meetings, survivors, care givers and friends, all are welcome. And visit the NH Brain Injury Association’s website, nhbia.org. for a wealth of information. President Trump would do well to do the same. The February meeting will be at The Peterborough Community Theater for the presentation of “The S Word,’ a documentary on suicide.
Tom Badgley
Bennington