Brain Injury Awareness Event at the Florida State Capitol
From Surviving to Thriving
A group of more than 50 people gathered in Tallahassee to advocate on behalf of traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors in Florida.
The distinguished speakers included Frank Toral, President, Brain Injury Association of Florida and Senior Partner at Toral Garcia & Franz, Valerie Breen, Executive Director, Brain Injury Association of Florida, Dr. Jacob W. VanLandingham, Assistant Professor in Biomedical Sciences, FSU College of Medicine, 9/11 Pentagon survivor and TBI activist, Valecia “Chee Chee” Linn Parker, and TBI mother and activist, Lester Rice. Moderating the event was Triston Sanders, anchor of the local CBS affiliate and executive producer of Health Matters.
Among the featured guests were Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros, Florida Surgeon General, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger, the famous author of Friday Night Lights, A Prayer for the City and Three Nights in August.
Marking the 25th anniversary of the Brain Injury Association of Florida, TBI survivors and activists came together at the state’s capitol to discuss the need for adequate healthcare, support and access to resources for the leading cause of death of children in the United States.
Starting off the discussion, Valerie Breen stated, “Within the next hour, 23 people living in Florida will receive an injury to their brain. 18 will enter and leave the emergency room, thinking that they will be just fine. 4 will be hospitalized with devastating injuries to their brains that could bring about life-long disabilities. And 1 will die.”
Frank Toral explained that “we need to recognize that brain injury is a serious healthcare problem in Florida and we need to invest in these families. Investment means putting dollars towards brain injury and providing long-term support which gives survivors an opportunity to remain in their homes and communities.”
Mr. Toral calls brain injury a “silent epidemic” because “no one likes to talk about it publicly, no one really wants to admit they have it, there is a stigma affiliated with it, and rather than calling it by its true name, we use words like mild TBI, concussion and head injury to somehow soften the blow of this devastating injury.”
In the spirit of the event’s theme, Mr. Toral stated that going from Surviving to Thriving requires fighting insurance companies to pay for medical care and informing legislators that they cannot ignore the 100,000-plus voters that sustain a brain injury each year in Florida.
The 2010 legislative session will not fair well for Florida families. It is anticipated that the forecast of the budget deficits will be between 2 to 3 billion dollars. As such, Mr. Toral went to the state’s capitol to help create awareness of brain injuries in Florida and to also help share some of the success stories. However, the real work occurred behind the scenes as Mr. Toral, along with others, lobbied chairpersons of key congressional committees to continue to support funding for Florida families living with brain injuries.
After the event, Mr. Toral personally met with Governor Charlie Crist and his Deputy Chief of Staff to express his concern that as a lawyer and advocate representing these families statewide, he was worried that the legislature will cut funding for these families which would mean thousands of brain injury survivors and their families would go without necessary support and services. Mr. Toral will be working with the Governor’s staff on this issue.