My first book was a great accomplishment, and it took all of my energy and my deepest feelings to get from day to day. The book explained how I got through the worst fear of my life. Almost losing a child—young or grown—is torture. His younger brother, David, also went through the worst time of his life as he tried to help care for Brad’s family as well as his own.
I begged David to stay home and take care of his own family, but he resisted my pleas and kept Brad’s privacy by not revealing too much since we are a private family.
But since the book was published, a lot of our privacy has been eradicated as I told the public what happened as we went through the ordeal.
It’s been several years since the worst happened, but time doesn’t erase the threat and near promise which was that he could have died.
But some good things also came from the terrifying event. The exoskeleton and robotics that Brad used to become stronger became the source of other people’s means for rehabilitation and recovery.
In order to bring these pieces of equipment to Burke Rehabilitation Center, we raised almost a million dollars to pay for the resource that were produced at MIT and sent to Burke as a test.
Clearly it worked well for Brad and now we know that it serves the same purpose for many others.
I’m so pleased with the way we have gone forward. The book has been received with a great deal of positive feedback. Currently, I am taking a graduate degree course in psychology and ethics with the plan to become a mental health counselor for those and their families who have been stricken by similar crises.
Life has presented me with many twists and now I am ready, with book in hand, to deal with it all.
Marsha Berman 