[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 7, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S3537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO KEVIN PEARCE
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Vermont athletes are no strangers to the
U.S. Winter Olympic team. In 2009, the Hartland, VT, raised Kevin
Pearce was readying himself to be a member of that team when tragedy
struck. During a routine half-pipe training session for the 2010
Olympics, Kevin suffered a traumatic brain injury and was nearly killed
when he crashed and struck his head. Since then, Kevin, with the
support of his family, has worked to recover and heal from that
terrible accident. I have heard firsthand from Kevin how instrumental
his younger brother David was in providing positive feedback and
encouragement as he completed his physical therapy. Together with his
older brother, Adam, Kevin started the Love Your Brain Foundation,
which offers support to survivors of traumatic brain injuries, their
families, and their caregivers.
The Love Your Brain Foundation recently held its free annual retreat
in Lincoln, VT. The foundation's mission extends beyond simply
providing support to survivors; it also works to raise broader public
awareness about the condition. Kevin, Adam, and those who support the
mission of the Love Your Brain Foundation believe that traditional
treatment options, as well as alternative methods of care, can help
survivors of traumatic brain injuries lead full and healthy lives. The
foundation's annual retreat enables people from around the country, and
some from Canada, who are dealing with traumatic brain injuries to
share their own personal stories and to sharpen skills in workshops
focused on music, yoga, and nutrition education.
Whether the result of sporting accidents or from a vehicle crash,
injuries sustained on the hiking trail or the battlefield, there is
still much to be learned about traumatic brain injuries and how best to
help those who sustain them recover. That is why the work of the Love
Your Brain Foundation makes a real difference.
Kevin Pearce's life forever changed the day of his accident. He and
his family have taken that tragedy and turned it into an opportunity to
advance public awareness. His story is one we can all be inspired by,
and his road to recovery is one we should all from and seek to emulate.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a May 28 article written
by Vermont Associated Press reporter Lisa Rathke, entitled ``Injured
snowboarder helps brain injury survivors,'' be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Associated Press, May 28, 2016]
Injured Snowboarder Helps Brain Injury Survivors
(By Lisa Rathke)
Lincoln--A near-fatal halfpipe crash while training for the
2010 Olympics ended Kevin Pearce's snowboarding career and
changed his life forever. Six years later, Pearce, 28,
continues to cope with his traumatic brain injury that he
will carry with him for the rest of his life and he's helping
other survivors do the same.
Pearce, who grew up in Vermont, and his brother started the
Love Your Brain Foundation to support traumatic brain injury
survivors and caregivers. The foundation provides workshops
for yoga teachers to cater their classes to brain injury
survivors. It also offers a free yearly retreat for those
with traumatic brain injury and their caregivers that is
taking place this week in Lincoln, Vermont, and hopes to
offer retreats in other parts of the country.
The foundation raises money to cover these activities and
is working on educating young athletes about the importance
of ``loving their brains''' and preventing concussions.
About 50 people from around the country and Canada are
attending the third annual event that also features nutrition
education, art, music and other mindfulness activities.
Attendees can also share their personal stories.
``There was a huge missing piece to traumatic brain
injuries and there's such an unknown for so many people of
what to do after they sustain this injury,'' said Pearce,
following a morning yoga class at the retreat in a barnlike
building on a hillside.
Alternatives such as acupuncture, yoga and meditation are
proving helpful to traumatic brain injury survivors in their
recoveries, said Dr. Roger Knakal, medical director of
physical medicine and rehabilitation and the University of
Vermont Medical Center.
One of the hardest parts about traumatic brain injuries is
that they are invisible injuries, said Pearce's brother Adam.
The biggest eye-opener was how isolated people can become
from a brain injury, he said. ``When you have a brain injury,
you feel so not normal,'' said Pearce. ``You're thrown back
into the regular world. You're expected to be as you were
before this. We're not able to do that because we're now a
new person.''
Pearce was considered, along with Shaun White, to be one of
America's top athletes in the sport at the time of his crash.
On New Year's Eve in 2009, he struck his head during half-
pipe training in Utah. He was in critical care for a month
and then acute care for two weeks before moving to a
rehabilitation center in Denver. He had to relearn how to
walk, talk, even swallow. The family then moved back to
Vermont where he continued rehab.
Pearce, who now lives in Bend, Oregon, continues to do
cognitive therapy and is seeing eye therapists in Chicago to
help with vision problems. He maintains a busy schedule,
speaking to various groups about his story and the importance
of ``loving your brain'' and showing the 2013 documentary
about him called ``Crash Reel.''
Ari Havusha, 20, of Vancouver, returned to the retreat for
the third time this year. He said he suffered several severe
concussions and an eye injury as a teen soccer player and
another severe concussion later during a college fall. He
lives with a constant headache.
Havusha withdrew from McGill University in Montreal and
returned home, where he became anxious and depressed. His
mother pointed to the Love Your Brain retreat and right away,
Havusha said, he knew he had to do it. ``It was a huge
turning point for me,'' he said. ``I saw other people and
their traumatic stories and I was able to connect with other
people. Suddenly I was kind of lifted out of that isolation I
felt so heavily.''
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