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PROVO — Nearly eight years after Derek Gosman sustained two severe brain injuries in a Park City skiing accident, he is basically back to normal.
Gosman, 33, was injured in January 2008 when he went off a ski jump, flew 50 feet in the air and landed on his head, he said.
In addition to the diffuse axonal and frontal lobe injuries he sustained, the skier broke 21 bones and was in a coma for six weeks. For six months following the accident, Gosman was gaining coherence and slowly getting back to speed.
Forced to relearn basic skills such as walking and talking, Gosman said it took about 4 years to get to the point where he could really function well.
Now, people don't have any idea that happened to him, and he is always improving.
In 2013, Gosman married his sweetheart, Amanda. Together, they have a 15-month-old son named Thomas. Gosman feels getting married and having a child are his most important accomplishments.
"It almost feels surreal," Gosman said of his life now. "It feels like my accident almost never happened just because I'm back up to speed."
He has skied a few times since his recovery and says one benefit of not remembering the accident is it's easier to go skiing.
Gosman looks back on his accident as a bad time for his family because they had to watch him relearn things.
"...I can't imagine what that's like for parents or grandparents or siblings or just close friends," Gosman said. "And everyone has been so supportive of me that it really has been amazing when I look back now, because … I would say I'm pretty much back to normal, and so it almost seems very surreal."
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New legislation to ease financial burdens on brain injury victims
New legislation passed by Utah lawmakers could have an impact on thousands of victims of brain injuries in this state. The Traumatic Brain Injury Fund will now offer a way to provide long-term financial help for those services not covered by insurance.About the time Gosman was in the accident, Utah lawmakers passed the Traumatic Brain Injury Fund legislation which provides long-term financial assistance for services insurance doesn't cover.
Gosman's mother, Pam Gosman, said they didn't use the fund, but the University Hospital financially assisted with medical costs, since he didn't have insurance.
Pam Gosman credits Neuroworx with much of her son's recovery.
A nonprofit organization, Neuroworx is an outpatient physical therapy clinic that provides neurological rehabilitation for spinal cord injury, brain injury and stroke victims experiencing paralysis, according to its website.
It's been amazing and that as bad as situations can be, don't give up hope, because we never know how they'll end.
–Derek Gosman
Pam Gosman called her son a "walking miracle." She said they felt lucky he was treated at the surgical intensive care unit at University Hospital, because she thinks that's the only place that would have saved her son.
Each year, Gosman attends the annual Family & Professionals Conference put on by the Brain Injury Alliance of Utah, where he says he learns things he can do to improve his situation.
"...I just want everyone to know, obviously, that I'm beyond grateful for all the help that I received, my family received," Gosman said. "It's been amazing and that as bad as situations can be, don't give up hope, because we never know how they'll end."
