Stroke victim now helps others with rehabilitation
Published: 2010-07-08 01:52:30By: Karen Meyer | ABC 7 News | March 28, 2010
March 28, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A structured rehabilitation program for people with traumatic brain injuries is the key to their future.
One Chicago area man is giving back to the program that changed his life.
Research shows that majority of recovery from traumatic brain injuries occurs within the first six months to a year of trauma.
Tim Donahoe lost his ability to read and concentrate and struggled with some physical challenges from a stroke.
What he never lost was the will to succeed.
Seven years ago this month, the 48-year-old man's life changed.
"It was a Sunday afternoon. I had taken the three boys away so that my wife could clean the house and make a nice dinner," Donahoe said.
He took his boys swimming.
"When I came home we had a nice dinner, and then after dinner, I was sitting down, and I had a stroke," he said.
After spending time at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Donahoe went home.
"I was doing the rehabilitation myself and trying to get better, at the
same time trying to continue working. [I] had a long work history, and
my company was hoping I would get better and hold my job, and they very
good to me," he said. "I was a salesman. But I ultimately couldn't do
the work."