Give many people a grill and a flame and they’ll light it up, toss on some burgers and dream of the first bite. Greg Carlson is more focused on the fact he can actually man the grill at all. A year and a half ago, this Iowa hog farmer could not flip a burger or even speak.Carlson was riding his motorcycle when he collided with a deer. "I didn't hit the deer. The deer hit me, I think," Carlson said. "But I don't remember any of it. So then I got a helicopter ride to Des Moines from there.”Carlson suffered a traumatic brain injury after he flipped over his windshield and landed on the highway.“I'm just going by what I hear from my wife because I don't remember,” he said. “She said the first seven to 10 days I was very, very, very critical.” For 31 days, he didn’t leave his hospital bed. He doesn’t remember anything from that first month. As bones healed, they loaded up the hog farmer for an ambulance ride to the brain injury experts at a rehabilitation facility called On With Life in Ankeny, Iowa.“Physically, he still needed a lot of help with everyday tasks,” occupational therapist Amy Andreesen said.Therapists say it’s what they typically see in people who’ve had brain injuries. But on just his second day there, they told Carlson to stand up.For some reason, it worked — and so did Carlson's memory.“How fast he went from not remembering anything to walking and then quickly ditching the cane,” physical therapist assistant Matthew Poots said.In just a few weeks, they were testing his balance while tossing him tennis balls.“Every day then, he kept progressing,” Poots said.To make sure Carlson was ready for everyday mental tasks, they asked him to make a shopping list and then prove he could do it. “So we got to the Fairway Store here in Ankeny and she gave me a $20 bill and said, ‘You gotta go buy this and make sure that $20 bill will be enough,’” Carlson said.Just a few weeks after he stood up from his hospital bed for the first time in a month, he was doing math in the grocery store aisle.“Traumatic brain injuries cause cognitive problems. So they were testing me. See if I can remember what you have to have to cook,” he said. Eighteen months later, with gratitude overflowing, Carlson says, “Yep, I’m a lucky guy.”Carlson decided to take his 'thank you' up a notch.The hog farmer asked his friends at a company called the Pork Producers to fire up their biggest grill so he could flip enough burgers to thank everyone in the building.Between batches, Carlson climbed back on his balance ball and showed off how he can tackle stairs without a problem. “It’s people like Greg that keeps me coming to work and keeps me motivated to get them better and get them on with their life,” Andreesen said.
Give many people a grill and a flame and they’ll light it up, toss on some burgers and dream of the first bite.
Greg Carlson is more focused on the fact he can actually man the grill at all. A year and a half ago, this Iowa hog farmer could not flip a burger or even speak.
Carlson was riding his motorcycle when he collided with a deer.
"I didn't hit the deer. The deer hit me, I think," Carlson said. "But I don't remember any of it. So then I got a helicopter ride to Des Moines from there.”
Carlson suffered a traumatic brain injury after he flipped over his windshield and landed on the highway.
“I'm just going by what I hear from my wife because I don't remember,” he said. “She said the first seven to 10 days I was very, very, very critical.”
For 31 days, he didn’t leave his hospital bed. He doesn’t remember anything from that first month. As bones healed, they loaded up the hog farmer for an ambulance ride to the brain injury experts at a rehabilitation facility called On With Life in Ankeny, Iowa.
“Physically, he still needed a lot of help with everyday tasks,” occupational therapist Amy Andreesen said.
Therapists say it’s what they typically see in people who’ve had brain injuries. But on just his second day there, they told Carlson to stand up.
For some reason, it worked — and so did Carlson's memory.
“How fast he went from not remembering anything to walking and then quickly ditching the cane,” physical therapist assistant Matthew Poots said.
In just a few weeks, they were testing his balance while tossing him tennis balls.
“Every day then, he kept progressing,” Poots said.
To make sure Carlson was ready for everyday mental tasks, they asked him to make a shopping list and then prove he could do it.
“So we got to the Fairway Store here in Ankeny and she gave me a $20 bill and said, ‘You gotta go buy this and make sure that $20 bill will be enough,’” Carlson said.
Just a few weeks after he stood up from his hospital bed for the first time in a month, he was doing math in the grocery store aisle.
“Traumatic brain injuries cause cognitive problems. So they were testing me. See if I can remember what you have to have to cook,” he said.
Eighteen months later, with gratitude overflowing, Carlson says, “Yep, I’m a lucky guy.”
Carlson decided to take his 'thank you' up a notch.
The hog farmer asked his friends at a company called the Pork Producers to fire up their biggest grill so he could flip enough burgers to thank everyone in the building.
Between batches, Carlson climbed back on his balance ball and showed off how he can tackle stairs without a problem.
“It’s people like Greg that keeps me coming to work and keeps me motivated to get them better and get them on with their life,” Andreesen said.
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