Veteran’s Long Recovery Highlights Brain Injury Support

Veterans Day on November 11 brought renewed attention to traumatic brain injuries, which advocates say can be difficult to spot and may require years of care. More than 530,000 service members and veterans have received a traumatic brain injury diagnosis since September 11, 2001, program director Kelly Parker said.

Army veteran Jon Kohl was severely injured when his helicopter crashed in Afghanistan in 2013, shortly before his 25th birthday. Doctors removed part of his skull to ease pressure, and his family was warned he might never walk or speak again. It took about a year before he could swallow, but he later regained abilities doctors had feared he would lose.

Thirteen years after the crash, Kohl’s recovery includes regular art and music therapy through the Wounded Warrior Project’s Independence Program. The program serves eligible former service members coping with serious head trauma, spinal damage, or neurological disorders, and its therapies are provided at no cost to participants.

Kohl has difficulty retaining conversations and reading, but his father says he remembers music from before the injury. Parker said symptoms can include headaches, memory and concentration problems, anxiety, depression, sleep disruption, and shifts in mood or behavior. They may emerge well after an injury, making early treatment important.

Kohl’s family urges other families to seek help promptly, including when an injury is not visible. Kohl said persistence has been central to his recovery and encouraged others not to give up.