Governor Proclaims Brain Injury Awareness Month 2022

WHEREAS, traumatic brain injury (TBI) results from an external force such as a significant blow, jolt, or penetrating injury to the brain that can also lead to a lifetime of physical, emotional, cognitive, and/or behavioral challenges; and the leading causes of TBI are falls, motor vehicle accidents, and assaults; TBI is one form of an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), which includes traumatic and non-traumatic brain injuries, such as strokes, brain aneurysms, brain tumors, brain infections, and anoxic brain injury, sometimes caused by drug overdose; and

WHEREAS, over 80,000 people in North Carolina will sustain a TBI this year, and many survivors will be left permanently disabled; public awareness and understanding of the dangers, prevention, and treatment of these injuries and effects on the family are critical to help protect the people of our state; and

WHEREAS, more than 2.8 million Americans sustain TBIs every year, and of them, over 50,000 die, roughly 282,000 are hospitalized, and approximately 5.3 million Americans live with a TBI-related disability; and

WHEREAS, an estimated more than 10 percent of all contact-sport athletes sustain a concussion yearly, and as many as 50 percent of all concussions go unreported due in part to a lack of understanding of the signs and dangers of brain injury; and

WHEREAS, active duty and reserve military service members are at increased risk for sustaining a TBI compared to their civilian peers, and, due in part to the specific demographics of the military, young men ages 18 to 24 are at greatest risk for TBI; 11 to 23 percent of American soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan have suffered a TBI; and

WHEREAS, research on abused women shows that 40 to 90 percent of victims of domestic violence suffer physical injuries to the head; and

WHEREAS, the North Carolina Brain Injury Advisory Council, the Brain Injury Association of North Carolina, and other stakeholders provide awareness, education, prevention, training, and services to North Carolinians living with TBI and other ABIs and their families, health care professionals, and others statewide, and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services encourages people to support and advocate for those affected by TBIs in our communities;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim March 2022, as “BRAIN INJURY AWARENESS MONTH” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.