Triumph Award recognizes rehab patient

It wasn't looking good for Bryan Hensley.

"I thought we were going to lose him," said his grandfather, James Ansley. "I spent every night with him when he was in a coma and on the 12th night, the doctor came out and told me that it would be a good idea to call the family because he didn't think he would make it through the night."

That was a little more than seven years ago.

On Thursday, Mr. Hensley was given the Triumph Award during Walton Rehabilitation Hospital's annual luncheon recognizing National Rehabilitation Awareness Week. The award recognizes an individual each year who has overcome a disabling condition.

"Bryan is a tremendous example of an individual who turned his life around after a catastrophic injury ...," said Dennis Skelley, president and CEO of Walton Rehabilitation Health System. "Through his own heart, he's compelled to take the message of good choices back to other teenagers so that they can avoid some of the tragedy and hardship that he went through with his injury and his recovery."

In 2002, Mr. Hensley, then 19, was in a single-car wreck in Evans that resulted in a traumatic brain injury, collapsed lungs, liver damage and a broken rib.

"I had a little sports car and I was speeding down the road under the influence of about everything possible," he said. "I was going too fast, it was dark and the road was wet. Before I knew it, I had hit a tree going 85 mph."

He was at Medical College of Georgia Hospital for 46 days, 32 of them in a coma. He then went to Walton Rehabilitation Hospital, where he spent two months and later to the Walton West Transitional Living Center to continue therapy and learn transitional skills.

"I was completely dependent. I had to relearn how to do everything," he said. "I had to take lots and lots of therapy -- occupational, physical and speech."

Since his recovery, he has remained involved with Walton through volunteering and has been a junior counselor at the hospital's Camp To Be Independent.

He also speaks to community groups.

"I was a really misled, bad teenager. I made a lot of dumb choices. I got around the wrong people and the wrong things," he said. "I regret a lot of the things I did, but it made me who I am today. I can go out and tell kids how stupid those things are and hopefully they won't do what I did."

He also shares the stories of some of his friends.

"I can't even count on my fingers how many of my friends made choices that damaged or scarred their lives," he said. "I bring them up because I don't want them to think 'Oh, he just had bad luck'. Nah, it's not bad luck. It was dumb choices."

Through it all, his grandfather was by his side, Mr. Hensley said.

"He was there with me through it all, despite all the hardships I put him and my family through," he said. "That man is the one who really deserves the award."

Reach Nikasha Dicks at (706) 823-3336 or nikasha.dicks@augustachronicle.com.