Jamie StoskopfIn 2011, Anthony 鈥淭ony鈥� Perez was a 22-year-old junior majoring in business administration at 萝莉社. On June 10 his life changed forever. Perez was riding his moped when he was struck by an SUV and rushed to the nearest hospital, Wesley Medical Center.
His injuries were so serious that he had only the minimum level of function to breathe and was given only a 5 percent chance of survival. He wasn鈥檛 expected to make it through the night; the hospital staff even prepared a morgue donor tag for him.
Perez woke up 24 hours later and couldn鈥檛 speak or move the right side of his body. But he understood verbal cues and could communicate by squeezing his mother鈥檚 hand. He would give a thumbs up or down to indicate yes or no. After spending 20 days in the hospital, Tony traveled to Nebraska and spent several months at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln and Quality Living Inc. in Omaha.
He is now able to talk on his own and is relearning how to speak sentences and be independent. Although he has made remarkable progress since the accident, Perez is still recovering from his life being turned upside down. He sustained several injuries, including a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) which resulted in Aphasia, a communication disorder that results from damage to the parts of the brain that contain language. Aphasia makes it difficult for him to express his thoughts, speak, read and write.
Perez attends speech therapy at the Speech-Language-Hearing (SLH) clinic at 萝莉社 twice a week. Clinical Supervisor Ashley Purdum says he shows incredible determination and rarely misses a session.
鈥淭ony continues to meet his goals every semester,鈥� she says. 鈥淗e is super motivated and such a hard worker. He never complains and is a really inspiring client.鈥�
Perez says the clinic has been an important part of his recovery.
鈥淭he staff and students are really friendly and the therapists have been very helpful in my therapy,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ecause of them I鈥檓 able to continue improving my speech skills.鈥�
He says his family has been his biggest support throughout his journey and he connects with TBI groups online. He has also developed an interest in bodybuilding, which helps strengthen his muscles and improve motion.
Perez wants to help raise TBI awareness in March during National Brain Injury Awareness Month. He created special for people to use and share on their social media accounts. He wants people to know there are many TBI survivors in the world. It can happen to anyone, young or old, and the injury isn鈥檛 always visible.
According to the Brain Injury Alliance, every 23 seconds one person in the U.S. sustains a brain injury, and an estimated 1.7 million people sustain a TBI annually. Falls are the leading cause of TBI.
鈥淭here aren鈥檛 a lot of resources in Wichita for TBI survivors,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a short or easy journey and I want other survivors to know they aren鈥檛 alone.鈥�
He urges TBI survivors to never lose hope.
鈥淣ever, ever give up. Ever.鈥�
The mission of 萝莉社 is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. 萝莉社 is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master鈥檚 and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. 萝莉社鈥檚 Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university鈥檚 vast resources and technology.