sive after impact, and then overwhelmed
by anxiety and agitation, his pediatrician
and other professionals did not connect
the blow to his head with those sudden
changes. Over time, small seizures oc-
curred, worsening the injury, but were not
recognized as such until years later.
Educational processing issues
emerged by middle school, affecting
Luke’s reading comprehension. He re-
mained sweet and kind but failed to
make friendship connections with oth-
ers his age. As his ability to succeed in
school worsened and executive func-
tioning skills eluded him, depression set
in. Luke was blamed for his failures, but
internally he did not understand why he
was failing, and his only resource was to
blame himself.
How to Better Understand
Children with Traumatic
Brain Injuries
Activist Claire Galloway fought for 16 years to diagnose her son Luke’s
unexplainable health and behavioral symptoms. But physicians, teach-
ers, and classmates blamed Luke for his struggles. Too late, he was
diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury. After Luke’s death by suicide,
Galloway asks society to stop throwing TBI sufferers away.
A
s traumatic brain injury
(TBI) becomes more identi-
fiable, people are just start-
ing to recognize how deeply it affects a
person’s life. In the past few years, re-
search has linked head injuries to the
onset of educational and social problems
such as learning disabilities, homeless-
ness, and alcoholism. A recent article sup-
ports the ominous link between TBI and
suicide. While increased TBI awareness
has started an important conversation,
activist Claire Galloway says it’s still not
enough. On an individual and societal
level, we must raise awareness about TBI.
“Too often young TBI victims suf-
fer social and academic ostracism and
isolation,” says Galloway, author of A
Call to Mind: A Story of Undiagnosed
36 WNY Family July 2019
Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury
(Brandylane Publishers, 2017, ISBN:
978-1-939-93094-1, $16.95, www.acall-
tomindtbi.com).
“Society is quick to fear and judge
people who don’t act the way we expect
them to,” she adds. “We like to avoid
anyone living on the street, begging,
dirty, or otherwise troubled. People with
TBI — particularly those who are undi-
agnosed and untreated — are left to fend
for themselves without the skills to ma-
neuver through life.”
For 16 years Claire’s son, Luke,
struggled with behavioral, social, and ed-
ucational difficulties caused by an undiag-
nosed closed-head traumatic brain injury
that occurred when he was two years old.
Despite having been dazed and unrespon-
After many years of being shunned
and labeled a lost cause by family mem-
bers, physicians, teachers, and peers,
and with no hope for help, Luke died
by suicide at age 22. Galloway’s wish is
that no one else with undiagnosed and
untreated or undertreated TBI has to go
through what Luke went through.
“It’s time for society to start dealing
with the realities of this topic that no one
wants to talk about,” says Galloway. “TBI
can change a person’s personality, behav-
ior, and present symptoms of mental ill-
ness. Without a timely diagnosis, not only
do TBI sufferers miss out on the treatment
they need, but they spend a lifetime being
judged, dismissed, and even feared for
behaviors that are not their fault. Many
times, the consequences of such judgment
and social abandonment are dire.”
So, what should we be doing to
stop the judgment spiral and start help-
ing? Galloway says it’s about increased
awareness and empathic action. Doctors
must learn to recognize and diagnose
the changes that take place following a
TBI and provide effective and contin-
ued treatment. Parents must unite and
advocate for their child after a blow to
the head results in lasting symptoms.
Teachers must support students who are
struggling to keep up, fit in, or behave
in class, and work with parents to help
determine the cause. And other potential
allies must choose empathy over judg-
ment and not further ostracize people,
especially children, who don’t fit in.
The bottom line? Stop throwing
away the people who need our support