I never knew what hit me

General Blog
1

I am new here and just want to share my story.

On the 8th of April, 2010 I left my home in Chicago

and drove all night to see my son in Ft. Bragg NC.

I arrived in Fayetteville NC about 10am on the 9th.

I thought I made pretty good time. After a haircut and

a quick lunch, I decided to take a few hours to sleep.

My son wasn't due to meet me until around 4 or 5pm.

I sat down on the end of the hotel bed and kicked off

my shoes. The next thing I knew is that I thought I was

shot by a gun in the back of my head. My arms and

legs locked up, my eyes and mouth closed tight. I really

thought I was about to die. Somehow I was able to open

my left eye and my world was spinning. I fell off the bed as i stared to violently vomit. At that time a woman was walking past my room and heard me. She called out to me to see if I was ok. I was able somehow to tell her 9-1-1. Before I knew it I was on the was to a care station. Through a C.A.T scan there they told me my brain looked like it blew up. They were not prepered to handle this type of situation. At midnight I was Helivaced to to UNC Neuro Center in Chaple Hills NC. through MRI and angiogram they were able to determine that a blew an AVM. They didnt know why I was still alive and alert. I had never loss conciousness. 6 days later they did brain surgery and clipped it off. It's been a slow steady recovery, but I am believed to be able to make a full one. I have just a little double vision, which is getting better and some weakness in my legs. Bless GOD Shawn K Brown

2

Wow. That’s a scary story. That gave me the goose bumps. I’m SO GLAD someone was walking by your room at the time, and I’m SO GLAD you’re expected to make a full recovery! God bless you. Kelly

3

Hi Shawn, I’m just writing to let you know that you’re not alone in your experience and that my experience is very similar to yours, just a month before on March 2nd 2010. Your description of being shot in the head perfectly describes what it felt like for me. On that morning I woke to a bullet and the snooze button on my alarm clock saved my life. My arms and legs also wouldn’t work and I tried desperately to pull myself up with my arms, and was vomiting but eventually had to accept my fate. I’m not sure how long I was lying semi-conscious on the floor, but fortunately my housemate opened my door (because of the alarm) and discovered me beside beside the bed. I was after having a major brain hemmorrhage due to a ruptured avm. When I was brought to hospital the neuro team were telling my housemates to tell my parents to drive faster, I don’t think the outlook was good. Like you it does take time, apart from a small bit of vision loss and numbness and weakness in my leg I’ve made a good recovery:)Good to hear that you are doing well too:)hope you have a great recovery, Julz:)