Brooke was determined to walk into her grandmother’s house for Christmas Eve last year without using a walker, and she also wanted to walk into church on her own.
Brooke was also determined to return to the basketball court for her senior year.
“When I was doing inpatient rehab, and it was like physical therapy, I kept asking, ‘When could I go back to play basketball?’” Brooke said.
'I wanted to do the best that I could for her’
From her accident, Brooke had suffered a traumatic brain injury that involved a 2-centimeter bleed and damage to nerve fibers in the brain. Her injuries also included a broken femur, eight broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Her pelvis, while it didn’t fracture, was still hurt through the accident.
Brooke spent 10 days in the ICU at Miami Valley Hospital as she had been transported there by CareFlight Air and Mobile after her accident.
“The first thing that we do is we treat the most life-threatening injuries first on scene, and for her, it was her breathing,” said Christina Broughton, a flight nurse for CareFlight who responded to the scene of Brooke’s accident.
Brooke was having trouble breathing, so Broughton and another flight nurse placed a breathing tube in Brooke to keep her alive during the flight, Broughton said.
“In this particular instance, it did really touch home because I did have a young driver that’s a teen and it caught my attention,” Broughton said. “And I wanted to do the best that I could for her.”
“She wasn’t very responsive at the time of arrival,” said Dr. Yee Wong, a trauma surgeon at Miami Valley Hospital, talking about the scans Brooke underwent so doctors could uncover each of her injuries.
During that time, Brooke’s parents, Gwen and Kevin Bergman, were making their way to Miami Valley Hospital.
“I had this sense of calmness that came about me,” Gwen said.
Kevin and she prayed the entire car drive to Miami Valley Hospital.
“I know that was God’s way of telling me that she was going to be okay,” Gwen said.
When they saw Brooke for the first time, Brooke was intubated and on a breathing machine. Even in the hectic hospital environment, Gwen had faith.
“I never felt once like we were going to lose her,” Gwen said.
Brooke makes her return to basketball
After the ICU, Brooke then spent nine days on the trauma floor before being transferred to the Ohio State Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital in Columbus for the remainder of her nearly two-month inpatient hospital stay.
“A lot of head injuries don’t require any surgical intervention, and it just requires time for the patient to recover,” Wong said.
When Brooke got out of the hospital, she had multiple therapies a week, including speech, physical and occupational therapies, Brooke said.
“She wanted to play basketball again, and she was able to make get into the scrimmage a week and a half ago,” Gwen said.
Getting back to playing basketball earlier this month was a huge accomplishment, Gwen said.
“Nobody thought that that was going to happen,” Gwen said.
People didn’t think Brooke would even be allowed back on the basketball court, let alone be strong enough to play, her mother said.
But when her physical therapists were unsure of whether or not Brooke would be able to get back on the court, she would say, “No, I’m playing.”
Last Thanksgiving, Brooke’s family was thankful that they were able to celebrate the holiday with her after everything she had gone through with her accident.
This year, her family is also celebrating Brooke’s recovery.
“After a year of recovery, I think we’re all thankful for how far that she has come,” Gwen said.
They are also appreciative of how the community rallied around them.
“We’re beyond thankful for all of the support from all of our family and friends and community that helped us get through this,” Gwen said.
Looking back on the accident, Gwen said a number of people didn’t think Brooke would survive it.
“Nobody thought that Brooke was going to make it,” Gwen Bergman, Brooke’s mom, said. “None of the first responders, the CareFlight nurses...So to see her pull through and to see her where she is today, most people with her injuries don’t get the quality of life that Brooke gets, and so we’re very thankful for that.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
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