by Linda Truong, Mary Free Bed writer In 1999, a propane truck smashed into Pete Cook’s car leaving him with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). An emergency medical technician witnessed the accident and came to Pete’s rescue, caring for him until a trauma team arrived. Pete was airlifted by helicopter to Spectrum Hospital in Grand [...]

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In January, Jan Levering took her kids sledding after working two 12-hour shifts as a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse. Exhausted, she decided to take one run down the sledding hill before sleeping in the car. Half-way down the hill, the sled turned 90 degrees and launched Jan 3 feet in the air. She [...]

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  The Wounded Warriors Project provides rehabilitation toward community integration for those who served and who sustained a traumatic brain injury in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. Who is running the Wounded Warriors Project? This is a collaborative effort between Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital (MFB) and Grand Valley State University (GVSU), with funding from [...]

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by Kate Snider, Mary Free Bed writer Marilyn Zinger’s 13-year-old son, Travis, was rushed to the hospital after surviving a car accident on a snowy December day in 1993. Travis doesn’t remember much from the accident because he suffered a traumatic brain injury, spent 3 weeks in a coma, and suffers from short-term memory loss. [...]

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Camden Grisby, just 14 years old, sustained a concussion from a serious snowboarding accident. Camden was successfully treated at Mary Free Bed’s Post-Concussion Program.

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by Jessica Sikkenga It’s been two years since my Dad, then 53 years old, suffered from a ruptured brain aneurysm. The amazing neurosurgeons at Spectrum Health performed a lengthy brain surgery on September 27, 2008, to place a clip on my Dad’s aneurysm. My family and I spent the two weeks following surgery by my [...]

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by Holly Grissom, stroke survivor I was a patient at Mary Free Bed in May 2002 after having brain surgery from a cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) that ruptured in my brain stem on April 19, 2002. I was 24 years old. I had actually just had my birthday 2 weeks prior. All of a sudden, I [...]

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Sarah Rapaport, just 5 days shy of her 30 birthday, suffered a life-altering stroke. While she’s made a remarkable recovery, Sarah had to re-learn how to do many everyday tasks. Her rehabilitation at Mary Free Bed included physical, occupational, and speech therapy, as well as driver rehabilitation. Today, Sarah finds encouragement and community through Mary [...]

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by Kate Snider, Mary Free Bed writer “Ten percent of life is what happens to you, the other 90 percent is how you react to what happens,” said Travis Zinger as he recalled what he learned during rehabilitation at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital (MFB). On a snowy day in December 1993, Travis, then 13 [...]

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The evening of June 2, 2009 unfolded like any other for Todd and Vicki Bowen of Mount Pleasant. They went for a walk. They ate supper. Their son brought one of the grandkids over to visit. Todd and Vicki went to bed about 9:30 p.m., expecting to wake up the next day like usual and [...]

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