“In the military, you have to work on your own and harder, especially with disabilities like mine. Having a place like the Brain Injury Alliance would have been very helpful with recovery tools and having someone to talk to.”

Salute our Vets Survivor on the Right Path

Evan Gossell is a good guy whose story of surviving brain injury is all too common. To highlight this issue that many people are still in the dark about, he will be running in the Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona’s Salute Our Vets 10K on October 15th to support other veterans.

A genuine Texan, he and his older brother grew up in Austin, Amarillo, and Waco with radiologists for parents. His folks were competitive, so when his mother would get a better gig, they would pick up and move; his dad would return the favor a few years later.

In 2005, he graduated from high school. Evan just wanted to work on cars, but to appease his mother, he went to Texas State Technical College for auto tech.

Two years later, he enlisted in the Air Force. After basic training in San Antonio, he went to Keesler Tech School in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he learned how to fix and operate radios.

In 2008, Evan was deployed to Iraq, working on sat/com dishes that connected communication throughout the entire country. His next few years were spent in a similar capacity in Germany, Djibouti, and Uganda.

However, his biggest challenge occurred off the battlefield.

In 2013, he and his friends were preparing to go canyoning—rappelling down a rope on a mountain in Austria. This is the part of the story where someone might imagine a devastating fall down steep, rocky terrain occurring. But real life isn’t like the movies.

As Evan stretched his muscles to get loose, he felt a pop in the back left quadrant of his neck. His eyes started darting around; he felt he was on a seesaw or roller coaster. He also kept falling. It was obvious something was wrong.

His friends carried him down the mountain and an ambulance brought him to a hospital in Innsbruck. The 26-year-old spent two weeks there as he recovered from the clot caused by a tear to his rear vertebral artery.

After a five-day stint at the Army medical hospital, he was discharged from the neurological unit, even though he had trouble walking. “I didn’t know who to contact and just felt that I would have to do recovery on my own,” Evan recalls. “Nobody was helping me.”

Part of that feeling of self-reliance is inherent in the military’s approach to building soldiers, but detrimental to seeking assistance. “While on my own, I figured out smaller steps before taking bigger ones,” he recalls. “For instance, I couldn’t ride a bike, but I could take spin classes. Eventually, I did improve with my own plan, but it was uphill all the way.”

Nine years later, he reflects on the availability of support that he was never offered. “I’m fine now, but I did it all by myself. In the military, you have to work on your own and harder, especially with disabilities like mine. There’s also a huge stigma to overcome,” Evan shares.

“Having a place like the Brain Injury Alliance would have been very helpful with recovery tools and having someone to talk to. I recently attended a Sunday Survivor virtual group and loved it. You never know when your story will help someone else.”

Now that the Salute our Vets run is imminent, Evan is getting excited at the prospect of good exercise for a good cause. “Running is a tool for me to get better balance. I run on the gravel trail and see all the beautiful wildlife. My goal for the 10K is just to finish and enjoy meeting new people.”

Evan Gossell— Survivor. Salute Our Vets runner. All around good guy. No matter whether he finishes first or last, we can count on him staying positive every step of the way.

ABOUT BRAIN INJURY ALLIANCE OF ARIZONA

The Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona (BIAAZ) is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults and children with all types of brain injuries through prevention, advocacy, awareness and education. BIAAZ also houses the Arizona Brain Health Resource Center, a collection of educational information and neuro-specific resources for brain injury survivors, caregivers, family members and professionals.

What began in 1983 as a grassroots effort has grown into a strong statewide presence, providing valuable life-long resources and community support for individuals with all types of brain trauma at no charge.

The Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona:

• Works with Congressional Brain Injury Task Force
• Houses Arizona Brain Health Resource Center
• Hosts Statewide Opioid Use Disorder & Cognitive Impairment Workgroup
• Has Statewide Opioid Use Disorder & Cognitive Impairment Response team with peer support, training, and family wraparound services
• Facilitates Brain Health Advisory Council
• Manages statewide Neuro Info-Line: 888-500-9165