Steve Butera Spoke at Rotary 10-28 Meeting

Steve Butera, an Ambassador of the MBIA, described that there are two types of brain injuries: Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI). TBI’s are the ones most people think of when they consider brain injuries due to the current publicity about all the brain injuries happening to football players and other athletes. However, the ABI's which develop from strokes and other brain related illnesses, are not typically thought of as being such a problem. Without getting into any detail, Steve noted that he is an Ambassador for the MBIA as his wife died at an early age of an ABI. Steve spoke about the little known fact that brain injuries occur 8 times more frequently than breast cancer and are 34 times more likely than HIV. He pointed out that the World Health Organization estimates that by 2020 brain injuries will be a leading cause of death and that currently it is referred to as the "Silent Epidemic." Next, Steve introduced Maria Kidd, another Ambassador of the MBIA. She told how her brain injury occurred while she was sleeping in the passenger seI am settting at of her car when her friend, the driver, did not see a tractor trailer in the highway. Her car went under the tractor trailer in such a way that her car became a convertible and Maria received significant head trauma and brain injury. In spite of this accident and her loss of her legs when she was younger, Maria, now six years have since her accident, has her own apartment in Waltham and is able to do her own shopping. She is able to volunteer in a nursing home and credits the support from her family for her success in overcoming her brain injury. During the Q &A, there were questions from the members about the vulnerability of the brains of young athletes, potential problems with young people using marijuana before their brains have matured, the need to improve football helmets (or to eliminate football helmets) and the “heading” of soccer balls by younger players.