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Brandon La ForestBrandon La Forest was 27, he was cruising on Oct. 5, 2010, headed to a meeting for work, when traffic backed up.
In a single, excruciating moment, everything that defined Brandon would be smashed, destroyed, wrecked, much like the Chrysler Sebring he was driving that day. Much like his body. The woman driving the vehicle behind him was texting on her cell phone. She didn’t slow down. Her car drove into his at full speed. Another struck his vehicle as it spun on the freeway, and then another. When it was over, Brandon was clinically dead. A nurse who witnessed the accident revived him once. His vitals crashed two more times, only to be brought back again and again. At Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, doctors told his mother, Linda La Forest, that he wouldn’t survive the night. He had a severe brain injury, a broken neck, broken ribs. Surgeons had to remove his spleen; one kidney was damaged. He had a tracheotomy, a breathing tube and a feeding tube. Doctors confirmed that he’d had a stroke, his lung collapsed and his brain was seizing. |
What was your life like before the accident? Did you have a job? Did you previously attend college?
Brandon received his bachelor's degree in 2005 and continued to work for his masters in Michigan. He was in the middle, page 23, of writing a paper for his masters degree right before the crash occurred. His kind teacher gave him extended time, and within 2 years he finished.
Before the accident Brandon worked for an insurance company, lived in Detroit, and was in a happy relationship. This all changed when the accident occurred.
So much about his life had to change. After the accident Brandon had trouble spelling. For example, he would spell “phone”: fone. He confused the spellings of there, their, and they’re quite frequently.
I’ve read a lot about you and your accident. A lot of the stories say that you do not remember much from the accident and the earlier part of recovery. Is there anything that you do remember, or anyone that stands out that was always by your side?
Brandon does not remember anything that happened to him for 2 and a half months after the accident. He was in a coma for a while and has heard many stories from nurses and his family about things he does not even remember doing! One thing he loved to do in the hospital was talk about insurance and do paperwork. He says the funny part is that he does not remember that at all! Other things he unknowingly did was take his feeding tube out and take his trach tube out. The first thing that he can remember is the week before Christmas.
His Mom and Sister were always by his side and he is thankful for all they have done for him, and continue to do for him.
I also read that your Mom was a key personnel in your recovery. How did she help you recover? I also read that you were only driving with your Mom or sister in the car, do you still only drive with them?
Brandon’s mom stayed in a hotel type of living place for families in critical situations. She always had someone with her to keep her grounded and mindful. She stayed here for 30 days while Brandon was in recovery.
To this day, Brandon does not drive and his mom and sister drive him to wherever he needs to go. Brandon relies a lot on his mom. He can only sleep for about 4 hours at a time, and he cannot be left alone.
Have you since heard from the lady that hit you, has she tried to reach out to you and your family? Do you believe her sentence served justice? I say a short interview where you said that the lady was fined $583. You then said, “Is that what my life is worth”? Can you forgive the lady for what she did?
The woman that hit Brandon never reached out to him. She pleaded guilty to a lesser crime. She received no jail time but lost her licence and had to go through a specific program. She has to eventually take her driving test again. Brandon never had personal contact with the lady that changed his life, and he does not want to ever speak with her. He does not want to find her Facebook and see all the fun things that she is doing, while he is stuck in a bed or in the hospital because of what she did to him.
Brandon believes that negative attitude equals a big fat NO. He forgives the lady that altered his life. His mom forgives her as well. They are past it and just need to learn to adapt to new circumstances. Although they forgive her, they still have a “pissed” feeling toward her, and that is quite understandable.
What have you done since the accident to help promote safe driving and change people's perspective on texting and driving? What opportunities have you had to publicly encourage attentive driving?
Brandon speaks to high schools within his area because he cannot travel by plane, or be in the car for very long. Brandon has learned to walk again, but he still faces many issues. He has bladder issues but takes medicine for it, his vision is worse, he goes to A LOT of therapy, and he has seromas. Things just hurt more for him, like if he were to stub his toe, it would feel like he broke it.
What thoughts or ideas do you think would be effective in promoting attentiveness while driving? How can I get the message across to students to stop driving while being distracted?
Brandon says “live each day like it's your last day”. You never know what can happen to you once you sit down in a car. He also says that videos are extremely powerful. Just learn from other people's mistakes and cherish your life because you never know when it can be taken from you. Have goals and do everything you can to accomplish them!
Brandon is doing extremely well now. I had the amazing opportunity to talk to him and his mom over the phone and it was an incredible conversation. It has been a few years after the accident now, and Brandon is well on his way to living a happy life again. He did say he lost a lot of friends, and his personality changed, but he has learned to be the best that he can be. And after speaking to him, I truly became grateful that I had the opportunity to speak with such an incredible person who I continue to look up to.
Brandon received his bachelor's degree in 2005 and continued to work for his masters in Michigan. He was in the middle, page 23, of writing a paper for his masters degree right before the crash occurred. His kind teacher gave him extended time, and within 2 years he finished.
Before the accident Brandon worked for an insurance company, lived in Detroit, and was in a happy relationship. This all changed when the accident occurred.
So much about his life had to change. After the accident Brandon had trouble spelling. For example, he would spell “phone”: fone. He confused the spellings of there, their, and they’re quite frequently.
I’ve read a lot about you and your accident. A lot of the stories say that you do not remember much from the accident and the earlier part of recovery. Is there anything that you do remember, or anyone that stands out that was always by your side?
Brandon does not remember anything that happened to him for 2 and a half months after the accident. He was in a coma for a while and has heard many stories from nurses and his family about things he does not even remember doing! One thing he loved to do in the hospital was talk about insurance and do paperwork. He says the funny part is that he does not remember that at all! Other things he unknowingly did was take his feeding tube out and take his trach tube out. The first thing that he can remember is the week before Christmas.
His Mom and Sister were always by his side and he is thankful for all they have done for him, and continue to do for him.
I also read that your Mom was a key personnel in your recovery. How did she help you recover? I also read that you were only driving with your Mom or sister in the car, do you still only drive with them?
Brandon’s mom stayed in a hotel type of living place for families in critical situations. She always had someone with her to keep her grounded and mindful. She stayed here for 30 days while Brandon was in recovery.
To this day, Brandon does not drive and his mom and sister drive him to wherever he needs to go. Brandon relies a lot on his mom. He can only sleep for about 4 hours at a time, and he cannot be left alone.
Have you since heard from the lady that hit you, has she tried to reach out to you and your family? Do you believe her sentence served justice? I say a short interview where you said that the lady was fined $583. You then said, “Is that what my life is worth”? Can you forgive the lady for what she did?
The woman that hit Brandon never reached out to him. She pleaded guilty to a lesser crime. She received no jail time but lost her licence and had to go through a specific program. She has to eventually take her driving test again. Brandon never had personal contact with the lady that changed his life, and he does not want to ever speak with her. He does not want to find her Facebook and see all the fun things that she is doing, while he is stuck in a bed or in the hospital because of what she did to him.
Brandon believes that negative attitude equals a big fat NO. He forgives the lady that altered his life. His mom forgives her as well. They are past it and just need to learn to adapt to new circumstances. Although they forgive her, they still have a “pissed” feeling toward her, and that is quite understandable.
What have you done since the accident to help promote safe driving and change people's perspective on texting and driving? What opportunities have you had to publicly encourage attentive driving?
Brandon speaks to high schools within his area because he cannot travel by plane, or be in the car for very long. Brandon has learned to walk again, but he still faces many issues. He has bladder issues but takes medicine for it, his vision is worse, he goes to A LOT of therapy, and he has seromas. Things just hurt more for him, like if he were to stub his toe, it would feel like he broke it.
What thoughts or ideas do you think would be effective in promoting attentiveness while driving? How can I get the message across to students to stop driving while being distracted?
Brandon says “live each day like it's your last day”. You never know what can happen to you once you sit down in a car. He also says that videos are extremely powerful. Just learn from other people's mistakes and cherish your life because you never know when it can be taken from you. Have goals and do everything you can to accomplish them!
Brandon is doing extremely well now. I had the amazing opportunity to talk to him and his mom over the phone and it was an incredible conversation. It has been a few years after the accident now, and Brandon is well on his way to living a happy life again. He did say he lost a lot of friends, and his personality changed, but he has learned to be the best that he can be. And after speaking to him, I truly became grateful that I had the opportunity to speak with such an incredible person who I continue to look up to.