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June 25, 2020 - I’m a miracle: How ex-Husky Darin Harris has learned to live with his traumatic brain injury

Summary

In this episode of Brain Injury Today, Brain Injury Alliance of Washington Executive Director Deborah Crawley speaks with former UW football player and BIAWA board member Darin Harris about his journey following a severe brain injury that nearly killed him. Darin gets candid about his struggle with symptoms like depression, how he has maintained a positive connection to football, and the difficulties of coping with both a brain injury and systemic racism as a member of the Black community.

Show Notes

In this episode of Brain Injury Today, Brain Injury Alliance of Washington Executive Director Deborah Crawley speaks with former UW football player and BIAWA board member Darin Harris about his journey following a severe brain injury that nearly killed him. Darin gets candid about his struggle with symptoms like depression, how he has maintained a positive connection to football, and the difficulties of coping with both a brain injury and systemic racism as a member of the Black community.

Darin HarrisHuskies safety Darin Harris suffered a traumatic brain injury during a football game for the Huskies. Harris’s life would never be the same. The doctors told him he’d never play football again, so he sought a second opinion. Problem was, that opinion was the same; he would have to quit the game. 

Although, “It’s been difficult,” he said. “Being an athlete and being a person who says something and does it, finding out that you’re not invincible hurts the most. You’re doing stuff and you’re at your pinnacle in terms of what you can do physically, and you feel sharp mentally…and then that stuff changes like that.” Harris has rebuilt his life.

Harris has also helped raise awareness outside the state to help pass what is commonly referred to as the Zackery Lystedt Law, named after the Tahoma High School player, that suffered a traumatic brain injury playing football two years before Harris’s injury. Like Harris, Lystedt has now devoted his time to support brain injury awareness, advocating legislation to make sure any player suspected of suffering a concussion is checked out by a licensed practitioner before receiving medical clearance to continue playing. It’s now the law in all fifty states. 

Working full-time at PSE, Harris devotes a lot of his spare time as a board member of the Brain Injury Alliance of Washington (biawa.org) and has just served as Past President of theAlliance. Coaches football, mentors’ young men and is a father of a beautiful daughter.

This episode of LEAD WITH WE was produced and edited by goal17media.com and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.

Links to Darin Harris
Linkedin: Darin HarrisFord Sports PerformanceSeattle TimesUniversity of Washington AthleticsDAWGMAN - Harris Opens Up About TBI
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: Student Athletes Healthcare Web Clip (HBO Sports) - YouTube 

What is Brain Injury Today?

Brain Injury Today is the official podcast of the Brain Injury Alliance of Washington. Join Executive Director Deborah Crawley for insightful and inspiring conversations from members of the brain injury community.

Part-two of a conversation about ambiguous loss with brain injury therapist Lori Weisman. In this episode, Lori discusses how to tap into the warrior spirit that lives within each of us and use it to move forward. Lori also talks about how those supporting a loved one or friend with a traumatic brain injury can encourage the warrior spirit.

Listen to the previous Episode 7 of Brain Injury Today for a deeper conversation about ambiguous loss

Download Lori’s FREE Guide: 7 Pathways For Reconnecting After Traumatic Brain Injury


For more resources related to traumatic brain injury go to:
Brain Injury Alliance of Washington – biawa.org
The Pooled Alliance Community Trustspactrusts.org
Brain Injury Art Showbraininjuryartshow.org
Brain Injury Today Podcast braininjurytodaypodcast.com

What is Brain Injury Today?

Brain Injury Today is the official podcast of the Brain Injury Alliance of Washington. Join Executive Director Deborah Crawley for insightful and inspiring conversations from members of the Brain Injury community.

This episode of Brain Injury Today was produced and edited by Goal17Media.com and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.




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