Earlier this year, I had the privilege to attend a dinner for a very worthy cause.  Patrick Donahue, the father of now four year old Sarah Jane Donahue, started a foundation in his daughter’s name after she sustained a Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury (“PTBI”).  The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation’s mission is to create a model system for treating children suffering from pediatric acquired brain injuries.  Believe it or not, there isn’t a model system in place in the United States. 

Sarah Jane’s story is unfortunately all too familiar.  She was shaken by her baby nurse when she was only five days old.  Last week, Sarah Jane turned four.  However, she still cannot crawl, walk or speak words. As a birthday present to her, the foundation selected 52 institutions and organizations to serve as Sarah Jane Brain Family Lead Centers of Excellence.

The dinner earlier this year was attended by an incredible group of doctors and health care professionals who gave presentations and shared information about their experiences in working on PTBI cases.  The sharing of information, the synergies of the working groups and the enthusiasm to create a complete treatment program was genuine and inspiring.  And, Patrick Donahue was simply amazing in his ability to pull together such a remarkable crowd.  It is clear that his motivation came from his heart and his compassion for his daughter and all kids who suffer from PTBI.

Congratulations to Patrick for all of the hard work that he and the others are doing at the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation.  The Foundation has taken on a tremendous cause that will undoubtedly result in better treatment for all adolescents who suffer from PTBI and in the process is bringing about more awareness to the potential injuries to babies if they are shaken.

The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation does omen’s work.  They have accomplished a lot but will need continued support to meet their goals.  I have proudly supported the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation and hope that you will join me in supporting these kids and helping spread awareness about the leading cause of death/disability in children.  For more information and/or to make a donation, please visit the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation website at www.TheBrainProject.org.

Tags: foundation, pediatric brain injury, pediatric traumatic brain injury

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 7:36 am and is filed under Medical Malpractice, patient safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.