A CRITICALLY INJURED WOMAN, OVERCOMING THE ODDS, IS NOW A PUBLISHED AUTHOR/SCREENPLAY WRITER & FILM PRODUCER
If I can do it with God's help, so can you.
Do not give up, no matter what!!!

Before I suffered a severe brain injury in August of 1993, I never thought that I would ever return to figure skating, become an author, and now a screenplay writer and movie film producer. It seemed that the odds were just too stacked against me as my chances of survival were slim. Traumatic Brain Injury in the early 90’s was not an advanced topic in the medical field.  I was given narcotic pain medication and basically told to, “Have a nice life.” I was left to fend for myself while trying to figure out why I couldn’t remember things, or why I would run out of the grocery store because I felt the walls closing in on me. Due to the extent of the injury I suffered, my life was ripped to shreds and no one could explain why. I could no longer feel my feet, hands or left leg. The headaches became so bad I contemplated suicide. The afternoon I actually put my right leg over the top of my 3rd story balcony was to end the pain I was in once and for all, till the phone rang. A friend on the other end told me, “Whatever you are about to do, don’t. God told me to tell you it will get better.” This reaffirmed and strengthened my belief in God, as I hope it does for others as well.

Things slowly got better, but it took several years for me to get the help I needed in understanding my injury. It wasn’t until our American soldiers came back with severe head injuries and the results of those injuries, that Traumatic Brain Injury become well known. But, I at least stopped feeling so alone. I began to read the stories of our returned troops and at times I was like, “Wow! That sounds just like me.” I finally found out how severe my head injury really was. It was then that I took my findings to a doctor who told me, “Do you realize how close to death you came?” I responded, “How close?” He looked at me and with hand gestures he stated, “Your neck was about ¼ inch from snapping.” I spent several years in Chiropractic therapy and eventually weaned myself off the pain medication, but something had to be done about the chronic pain I was living in because without the pain meds, life was unbearable!

I took my family to the ice rink for my oldest son’s birthday party. Out on the ice, I noticed something. I was not in pain, or rather I could not feel the pain due to the cold. That birthday party was over twenty years ago and I have not stopped skating since. I became a Figure Skating Coach, and I volunteer with Special Olympics on ice. I am also working on passing all of Adult Moves in the Field and Dance Tests, and becoming a competitive figure skater as well.

Who back then, would have thought that after a future which could have found me paralyzed, I was able to make a better future for myself instead. Though it was not easy, I knew in my heart that I had to endure and at times force myself to not quit. I can hardly believe I am the same woman who once had to crawl on the floor because I was too weak to stand; or who couldn’t remember where she was; or felt like a hammer was beating her skull twenty-four hours a day. Let me tell you, God is good.

However, there was still the issue of me having a career. I could no longer work a normal 9-5 job. Skating was only a few days a week and I had to do something constructive. My love for history sent me back to Gettysburg almost once or twice a week. While researching for a book I was writing, I fell down Big Round Top in the snow and the story of Summer Ray unfolded. Six volumes of the series are now complete and the seventh one is currently being written, and available on amazon.com. Yet, it doesn’t stop there. We are now in the development phase of our first feature, which is titled "A Redemption in Time." Once the pilot is finished we will begin production on the made for TV series. It's incredibly exciting!

So you see, if God can turn such a devastating injury around for my good, He can do the same for you as well. I am not saying it wasn’t without difficulty. There were days of excruciating suffering. But I had to get passed my pity parties and learn to love myself with my disabilities. Which I hated! I hated who I had become. I hated what had happened to me. My normal became my abnormal. The OCD and the PTSD still haunt me. Although, I still struggle on a daily basis to live with the new me, I still do my best to make the best of the new me. Who would have thought, at the brink of what could have been the end of my life and after seriously contemplating suicide, I am now writing this for all eyes to see. Please do not give up. I believe in you and I know God does too. Through faith, God can and will make a way where there is none! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

God Bless You,

Juliana Love