Join us on September 14 in Eisenhower Park at the Scarlett Oak as we celebrate leadership and honor brain injury survivor’s whose stories of determination and perseverance have inspired us all.
March On for Brain Injury supports the vital programs and services that the Brain Injury Association of New York State provides to those impacted by brain injury across the state.
March On may have happened, but donations will be accepted through September 30. Donate today!
Meet the 2024 March On for Brain Injury Long Island Honorees.
In December of 2022, Emily Sciascia was the backseat passenger of a car accident that temporarily took her life. She sustained a severe TBI, facial fractures, fractures to the arm and the foot, and multiple locations of bruising and bleeding. It was believed that she wouldn’t make it through the night and then she did. It was then believed she wouldn’t walk or talk again, but then she did. Her recovery was sudden and, in some ways, unbelievable, but not to her family who have known her to be incredibly stubborn, tenacious, and ultimately unshakable since childhood.
Emily gives much credit to the friends and family that brushed her half of a head of hair, read to her while she slept, listened to her tell the same stories repeatedly, and always met her wherever she could make it in the times she needed to be reminded that she is still strong, brave, and beautiful. She gives special credit to her eleven-year-old nephew Jack who is a constant reminder to always show up for herself and others.
During this past year following her accident, she has relearned how to walk and how to speak, she has fallen back in love with writing, reading, and making art, she has started enjoying the mornings more than she ever had before, she has gotten accepted into neuroscience programs, and she has learned not to resent the wounded self but instead, to hold her. She is equal parts poet and wit, which people close to her find all the more remarkable after having undergone brain surgery. When she asked her dear friend what he would say about her, he described Emily as “a distillation of wonder – a sound intellect, good-humored, a survivor, and above all, a graceful companion.”
As the 2024 March On for Brain Injury Long Island Honoree, Emily wants to remember and share the journey that she has been on, helping others understand that life can be beautiful after a TBI.
The 2024 March On for Brain Injury Medical Honoree, Dr. Brian Im completed his physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at NYU School of Medicine/Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine and subsequently did a fellowship in brain injury rehabilitation medicine at UMDNJ/Johnson Rehabilitation Institute. Upon finishing his fellowship, Dr. Im returned to Bellevue Hospital specifically with an interest to improve the brain injury rehabilitation program for the underserved public city hospital population. During his five years at Bellevue, Dr. Im became the director of the brain injury rehabilitation program.
Currently, Dr. Im is director of brain injury rehabilitation at Rusk Rehabilitation where he continues to treat inpatients. He is also co-director of the TBI model systems project at Rusk Rehabilitation and Bellevue Hospital, co-director of the NYU Concussion Center, and the fellowship director for the NYU Rusk Rehabilitation brain injury medicine fellowship.
Incredibly supportive of the work of the Brain Injury Association of New York State and a member of the association’s board, Dr. Im works to help spread awareness and raise valuable funds to support the programs and services that BIANYS provides to the brain injury community, a community that he proudly supports.
University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) is the 2024 March On for Brain Injury Statewide Program Honoree. The Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation unit at Strong Memorial Hospital meets the complex needs of adult and pediatric patients recovering from traumatic brain injury. Led by board-certified and fellowship-trained physician with expertise in brain injury rehabilitation medicine, the multidisciplinary care team is comprised of rehabilitation nurses, physical and occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, recreational therapists, care managers, dietitians, and psychologists. The focus is restoring independence by improving problems with cognition, balance, strength, motor control, vision, swallowing, and other deficits that adversely affect patients’ daily lives.
As western New York’s largest and the Rochester region’s only Level 1 trauma facility, Strong Memorial Hospital is a destination for patients from across upstate NY who require advanced levels of trauma care. The new 11 bed Acute Brain Injury Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit further strengthens UR Medicine’s comprehensive system of acute care and recovery for moderate to severe brain injury, which also includes the UR Medicine Comprehensive Stroke Center, the Mobile Stroke Unit, Neuromedicine ICU, and the Kessler Burn and Trauma Center. The new unit supplements the existing 20-bed Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit at Strong Memorial Hospital, increasing total acute inpatient rehabilitation beds at the hospital to 31.
“The unit is physically designed to appropriately manage patients with cognitive and behavioral deficits and accounts for the clinical, physical, cognitive, communication, and nutritional conditions necessary to create an optimal environment for the brain to heal,” said Heather Ma, MD, a brain injury rehabilitation medicine specialist and assistant professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Ma is division chief of UR Medicine’s Brain Injury Rehabilitation Medicine service line and is medical director and division chief of Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Medicine. “The staff are uniquely qualified to guide recovery, help patients improve or maintain function, and improve overall health and quality of life after an acute brain injury.”
URMC is a longtime resource and supporter of the Brain Injury Association of New York State, URMC continues to push forward to support and help heal brain injury survivors. Their programs and services are making a tremendous impact.
Are YOU ready to March On for Brain Injury?
The in-person event might be over, but donations will be accepted through September 30. Please consider helping us hit our goal! Support a team or donate today.
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