ISU hosts traumatic brain injury summit

POCATELLO, Idaho -

Traumatic brain injury experts from around the state met with Sen. Mike Crapo at ISUs Traumatic Brain Injury Summit on Tuesday to discuss the rising number of TBIs and the even more hard-hitting issue of finding funding to treat it.

Crapo, R-Idaho, is calling on the Obama administration to step up the attention given to people across the nation who are suffering from TBI.

We are here for a special and important issue and that is the issue of traumatic brain injuries, Crapo said.

According to the Institute of Rural Health spokesman Russ Spearman, federal funding only measures up to $8 million in grants for TBI programs spread across 21 states.

Even though we have been through some very difficult economic times, the fact that there is no state money for TBIs is problematic, Spearman said.

Idaho State University Associate Vice President and Executive Dean for the Division of Health Sciences Linda Hatzenbuehler said her school is the top institute in the nation for TBI research and development. Even so, the university is still seeing an empty wallet when it comes to receiving any sort of funding from the state for furthering TBI studies.

Also in attendance were those who shared their personal stories of overcoming TBI.

Denise OFarrell gave a tearful speech about how she and her family have had to watch her now bedridden husband, Mike, suffer from the severe TBI he contracted after being hit by two roadside bombs in Iraq back in 2008.

After lobbying in front of congressional delegates in Washington, D.C. at one point, she said nobody has come forth to help her and her family obtain proper treatment and care for her husband.

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ISU hosts traumatic brain injury summit