We are thankful you are here

Hello! We are so thankful that you are here!

Chances are you came to check out our site because you know us, you clicked on our link out of curiosity, which is great because curiosity equals education on some very important topics or you have found us because unfortunately someone you know and love, or possibly even yourself are on the journey of life with a traumatic brain injury. Regardless of where you or your loved one is in their journey, we are here to help.

Our journey started on December 22nd, 2022 when our youngest Daughter who was 4 years old at the time was out looking at Christmas lights with her Daddy and 2 of her Brothers. She was hit by a vehicle. God had so many angels already lined up to fight for our baby girl amongst the chaos. A near by Physican ran to the scene and started CPR. She was blessed with an incredible frontline team from the police and detectives, to our now friends that we call Addi's "Fire Angels" and her entire medical team.

Addi' was given 0.07% survival and even that small amount of hope was something that her neurosurgeon was skeptical to give. She had a cracked skull, a displaced c1 and c2 which in older children or adults is considered a broken neck and a traumatic brain injury which we later found out was a grade 3 diffuse axonal traumatic brain injury.

Addi is proof that God is very real and he still provides miracles. Addi fought hard and she beat all of the statistics and diagnosis' that specialists expected to see from the start. 

When you find yourself in a situation that you don't believe you will ever see yourself in it's daunting. When it's your child, to say that you feel lost, that everything around you seems to slow down and become a blur is an understatement. 

Being now almost 2 years out from the accident, we have joined support groups and social media pages galore. I have seen and read so many journey's and it seems like there are a couple similar feelings in the very beginning. You feel shock, things feel grim and dark. There seem to be so many questions with very little answers and if there are answers you really feel like you are getting the short version to your questions. Knowing that life is going to be different from here on, you don't know what to expect, what your resources are, who do you call first? Where do you go from where? Honestly, I even remember feeling like I had so many questions but at the same time didn't know WHAT to ask! THAT was frustrating. 

All of this  lead us to knowing we needed to do SOMETHING. When looking at the statistics and numbers in relation to pedestrian accidents, lack of awareness , the statistics across the nation in distracted driving and the dire need for advocacy, education outreach and just in general...a hand to hold on such a unknown journey in the traumatic brain injury world...we knew we wanted to make a change and that is where Addi's Miracle TBI Advocacy & Pedestrian Awareness and Survivors Against Distracted Driving was born.

If we can do anything for you, please know that we are here and we want to help. All you have to do is reach out via our contact. You don't have to walk this journey alone. 

Katie & Jeff Sandell