“It’s an interesting thing,” the doctor said. “A young brain is so better at healing.”
A week after his crash, Sisson and his mom flew back to Salt Lake City, the host city for the 2002 Winter season Olympics, on a special medical jet. He looked into the brain rehab unit of the L.D.S. Healthcare Facility, where Dr. Andrew Dodds, the attending physician, took over his care.In those
very first days, Sisson was confused about where he was. His eyes and facial expression had the flat affect of somebody who is there however not truly there. He fought with memory and balance. He tired easily. Noise and bright lights overstimulated and upset him, though Misti Timpson, a physiotherapist who aided with his rehab, said he never snapped the method brain injury clients frequently do.
“He was the nicest upset person I have ever satisfied,” Timpson said. “He would state: ‘Excuse me, ladies, I am getting agitated. I suggest you step away.’ And only then would he scream or start out or cover himself with a blanket.”
After a little more than a week, Dodds cleared him to attend an Olympic medal ceremony in Salt Lake City with an aide.Bell was there.
Sisson has an image of the 2 of them welcoming that night, though he has no memory of the moment.After another
week, Sisson had actually improved enough to go home, though doctors monitored him for a year, slowly clearing him to utilize knives and kitchen devices, then to drive and enlist in some college classes that did not involve math or languages or much memorization.
“I’m convinced that Joe was saved because he was 21 and didn’t have the cumulative trauma from moving injuries that his good friend most likely had,” Dodds said.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/04/sports/olympics/bobsled-travis-bell-joe-sisson.html