Former Olympic hopeful Kevin Pearce to visit TBI patients
On Thursday, April 9, 2015 snowboarder Kevin Pearce, who suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in 2009 while training for the Olympics, will stop by Hennepin County Medical Center’s Traumatic Brain Injury Center to visit with and encourage TBI patients. HCMC’s TBI Center was chosen as a visit site for Pearce because of its reputation for exceptional care of TBI patients and its leadership in the industry.
Kevin Pearce
“The care and encouragement I received during my recovery was so important, and now I want to support and encourage others living with a traumatic brain injury,” explains Pearce.
On December 31, 2009, Pearce was attempting a Cab double cork in a halfpipe in Park City, Utah when he sustained a TBI. An HBO documentary about his experience “The Crash Reel – the Ride of a Lifetime” won an Emmy for Outstanding Information Program. Today, Pearce is an internationally renowned sports commentator, motivational speaker, and advocate for TBI education, prevention, rehabilitation and research, as well as a Sports Ambassador for the National Down Syndrome Society.
- What: Kevin Pearce, former snowboarder and Olympic hopeful will visit TBI patients
- When: Thursday, April 9 at 10:00 AM
- Where: HCMC’s Outpatient TBI Center, 825 S. 8th St. Suite 600, Minneapolis
About Traumatic Brain Injuries Each year, more than 1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Among children and young adults, TBI is the leading cause of death and disability.
In Minnesota, nearly 100,000 brain injuries occur annually. A large percentage of those injuries are mild to moderate cases and often go untreated. As a Level I Trauma Center, Hennepin County Medical Center admits and treats the most traumatic brain injuries in the state.
The Traumatic Brain Injury Center at Hennepin County Medical Center offers comprehensive, multidisciplinary patient care, education and research to serve people who have sustained a traumatic brain injury. Providing a full range of state-of-the-art medical and rehabilitative services, the TBI Center features caregivers whose expertise spans the entire continuum of care for adult and pediatric TBI patients — from prevention to emergency care, neurosurgery, critical care, rehabilitation and the Mild to Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic. Each year, professionals at the Traumatic Brain Injury Center care for more than 2,000 patients.
