On February 12, 2008, 24-year-old Dallas Griffiths was longboarding through Snow Canyon and he crashed. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. Dallas remembers very little about what happened after that but tiny miracles helped save his life after being diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.
After being in a coma for over a month, on March 25, he woke up and started the long process of recovery and healing. His physical therapist was Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) faculty Misti Timpson, PT, DPT, PhD, NCS.
Therapy for a TBI
After waking up from a coma, Dallas had difficulty both speaking and mobility. He was diagnosed with severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), which paralyzed half of his body. Timpson worked to assess his function. Dallas was weak from both the TBI and lying on his back for five weeks. Therapy started with basic strengthening, direction following, sitting balance, eventually standing balance, then finally assisted walking.
Aside from his physical limitations and therapy, Dallas had to relearn emotional recognition. Timpson explains that it’s common for those who suffer a TBI to be quite agitated and angry, often causing harm to themselves or others; however “Dallas was always pretty mild,” Timpson said.
Dallas’ Physical Therapy and Recovery
Dallas had an advantage over other TBI patients. At the time of this accident, he was entertaining the idea of becoming a physical therapist. “I had a better understanding of the help that I was receiving and what they were asking me to do,” says Dallas. The process had its challenges and limitations caused Dallas to go down a different career path.
Dallas said, “I still can’t run and I can’t jump. I walk with a heavy limp. A strong wind will knock me over.” He has had to overcome physical limitations, memory loss, and more. “Every day of the rest of my life will be a day of recovery.”
Despite all the hardships, Dallas continues to live life to its fullest and share his story. He hopes to raise awareness and encourage people to wear a helmet when they need to. “If one person was affected by my story and made the decision to put a helmet on, that’s all the reward I need.”
Listen to the entire RMUpload podcast here.
Additional Resources
Intermountain Healthcare – Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury
University of Utah Health – Traumatic Brain Injury
- Timpson M, Hade EM, Beaulieu C, Horn SD, Hammond FM, Peng J, Montgomery E, Giuffrida C, Gilchrist K, Lash A, Dijkers M, Corrigan JD, Bogner J. Advanced Therapy in Traumatic Brain Injury Inpatient Rehabilitation: Effects on outcomes During the First Year After Discharge. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2019 Oct;100(10):1818-1826. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2018.11.015. Epub 2018 Dec 19.
- Bogner J, Dijkers M, Hade EM, Beaulieu C, Montgomery E, Giuffrida C, Timpson M, Peng J, Gilchrist K, Lash A, Hammond FM, Horn SD, Corrigan JD. Contextualized Treatment In Traumatic Brain Injury Inpatient Rehabilitation: Effects On Outcomes During The First Year After Discharge. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2019 Oct;100(10):1810-1817. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2018.12.037. Epub 2019 Feb 1.
- Beaulieu CL, Peng J, Hade EM, Corrigan JD, Seel RT, Dijkers MP, Hammond FM, Horn SD, Timpson ML, Swan M, Bogner J. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2019 Oct;100(10):1827-1836. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2019.01.014. Epub 2019 Feb 20
- Bogner J, Hade EM, Peng J, Beaulieu CL, Horn SD, Corrigan JD, Hammond FM, Dijkers MP, Montgomery E, Gilchrist K, Giuffrida C, Lash A, Timpson M. Family Involvement in Traumatic Brain Injury Inpatient Rehabilitation: A Propensity Score Analysis of Effects on Outcomes During the First Year After Discharge. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2019 Oct;100(10):1801-1809. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2019.04.008. Epub 2019 May
