Amanda's Story
Amanda was a seventeen year-old junior in high school, who played soccer, lacrosse and swam. In a matter of seconds, her life changed, when a moving truck sideswiped her car as she drove to meet her dad.
“ . . . I was in a hospital bed, I had no idea where I was, what happened to me. The nurse told me ‘You were in a car accident.’ I asked, ’Is my Dad okay?’ I thought my dad had driven, I didn't even remember that I had been driving. . .”
The impact caused a traumatic brain injury. “First you worry about whether she will live, then you worry about whether she will get out of the coma, and then you wonder if she will be able to walk, or speak.” Amanda’s father recalls.
After intensive research, Amanda’s family enrolled her at MAB's Ivy Street School.
“…At the school I learned how to cope with the results of my injury, by receiving counseling, a high school education, and physical, occupational and speech therapy. All of which helped me to become an independent young woman. I rent an apartment in Boston, and work in Braintree, processing stock transactions. I attend Bunker Hill Community College. I visit friends and family who live outside of Boston and even out of the state. Because of the help and support that MAB provided I am able to accomplish all of these things.”
Amanda now volunteers at MAB and raises money for our 5K Run and Walk. She says that she wants to give back so that others can benefit from services as she has.
Amanda has also been campaigning to have insurance companies cover aqua therapy, which she and her doctor believe made it possible for her to walk again. Channel 5 covered her story. More.
