The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Sharing a message with teens
Siefker shares personal struggle
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 6, 2008
Twenty years ago, Saline resident Stephanie Siefker suffered a traumatic brain injury when a car struck the motorcycle she was riding.
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She was 17.
Eighteen years ago, Todd Hammons of Romulus dived headfirst into a quarry lake and broke his neck. The injury rendered him paralyzed.
He was 19.
They told their personal stories of struggling with the lifelong consequences that often accompany head and spinal cord injuries last week before a health class at Saline High School.
Theirs was a cautionary tale.
"This is a life you don't want to have," Hammons told the juniors and seniors from his wheelchair. "I laughed and giggled at safety and you can see what position I put myself in. My mom has been showering me for 18 years."
Siefker and Hammons are speakers for the National Injury Prevention Foundation's Think First program.
"We want you to think about what you're doing and think about the consequences," Laura Zang, the director of the Ann Arbor chapter of Think First, told the students. "We in neurosurgery feel it's our mandate to be sure you can do all the things you like to do without getting injured."
Each year, an estimated 500,000 people in the United States sustain a brain or spinal cord injury, Zang said. It's the leading cause of death among children and teens, with people ages 15 to 24 the highest risk group for head or spinal cord injuries. Half of the injuries come from car crashes; other major causes are falls, violence and sports.
"These are preventable injuries," said Zang, adding that 85 to 90 percent of head injuries can be prevented by wearing a helmet.
Drugs and alcohol, she said, are major contributing factors to incidents leading to head and spinal cord injuries.
Before diving into the quarry lake, Hammons had been drinking with friends. He provided the students a candid account of his day-to-day life since the accident.
"It's not something I like to talk about," he said, "but it's the only way I know to get you guys to realize how important it is to make good choices."
"It takes a lot of guts to come to a classroom like this and share something so personal," said Zang of Siefker and Hammons.
Siefker, who has spoken at seven area schools since the start of the school year, told the students that after her brain injury, her life was never the same.
She lost friends, she lost self-esteem. The bright, vibrant, athletic teen she was was gone. Her dreams of a career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation were dashed.
"The first decade (after the accident) I was just trying to figure out what had happened to my life," she said. "It was not the life I expected."
Wear a seatbelt in the car, she said. Wear a helmet. Don't drink and drive.
"Just do it," she said. "It just takes a second to be safe. That's all it takes is a second."
It's the same amount of time it takes a life to change from a head or spinal cord injury.
A second.
"Once it's done, it's done," said Hammons. "You cannot go back."
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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