Alison Delgado’s TBI Survivor Story

Alison Delgado

In the spring of 2005, a few months before I was to begin medical school at the University of Cincinnati, I won the women’s division of the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. I had been running for almost ten years (starting at age 12) and it was the first marathon I had ever competed in. In my mind at the time, winning that race was proof to myself, and anyone else who doubted it, that I could set a goal and accomplish such an extraordinary feat. It gave me some confidence going into medical school but I had no idea what greater challenges I would face in the future.

Medical school was very challenging but it was where I met my future spouse. After graduating in the spring of 2009, I was matched into a pediatric residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and my future husband matched into an emergency medicine program at University Hospital in Cincinnati. We were married in the spring after our intern year in May of 2010. On October 16, 2010, I had my first day off in two weeks and I decided to go for a bicycle ride that afternoon. With only a few miles left to go in my ride, I was struck by a car that was turning into a neighborhood when I was riding downhill. My spouse was the physician who was sent out to transport me back to their hospital, not knowing that I was the patient until they arrived.

Alison Delgado

I was not expected to survive the night but remained in a coma for five days. I had a broken clavicle, broken jaw, several broken vertebrae, a severe bleed around my brain as well as a dissection of my carotid artery and an aneurysm in my brain that had developed from the collision. The aneurysm and dissection were treated and I was sent to an inpatient rehabilitation facility after about 2.5 weeks. There I was found to have weakness of the right side of my body and a severe speech deficit. When I was there, I do not believe I truly understood the extent of my injuries but I had to get back to work. It was my main focus. I had to work hard every day so that I could get back to work.

I was in the rehab center for about two weeks and made a lot of progress. My speech was not perfect but I was hoping that with more outpatient rehab I could get back to work in just a couple of months. Three days after I was discharged home, the aneurysm ruptured, sending me back to the hospital and I lost everything I had gained in rehabilitation.

Due to the medications I was taking at the time, I had to wait for three weeks before they could perform a procedure in which they would open my skull and clip the aneurysm. I was a ticking time bomb for three weeks while everyone prayed that the aneurysm would not rupture again. I was in significant pain and had the vocabulary of a toddler. That hopeless feeling, that feeling of fear, is something from my life that I will never forget.

The surgery was performed mid-December 2010 and it was a success but I was weak and my language skills were not even close to someone working in the medical field. But I had one goal in mind. I had survived. I had a purpose here and I was not going to let this accident keep me out of the profession I had been working toward. I was going to go back to work.

With intense physical therapy, speech therapy, and so much support from loved ones and colleagues, I did return to my residency program in April of 2011. I had been asked to be the guest starter for the Cincinnati Flying Pig marathon in May of that year. When I saw all of those athletes on the starting line that morning, I set my next goal – to run the marathon again in 2012.

I began training in December 2011 and on race day that May in 2012, I competed in the marathon again, finishing in 4th place and beating my previous winning time by two minutes. I completed my pediatric residency that December 2012 and now I am a board-certified pediatrician practicing in Park City, Utah.

Alison Delgado at the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon

That is truly only a brief description of my story. All of this time I have known that I have a story that needs to be told, a story that could give hope to other survivors and their loved ones. In spring of 2020 I published a book entitled My Race for Life, finding new strength after tragedy. It can be found on my website www.myraceforlife.com or on Amazon. I also have a Facebook page. I want every survivor and loved one to know that you can always achieve more than what is expected of you. It always starts in you believing in yourself and don’t let anyone else tell you that you can’t. I know that there are so many survivors out there like me. Keep setting goals and keep pushing forward.