Farmington Hills Firm's Facebook Campaign Helps People with Brain Injuries

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and a Farmington Hills-based law firm is raising funds through Facebook to support the Brain Injury Association of Michigan.

For every person who "Likes" Michigan Auto Law's Facebook page, the firm will donate $1 to the association, up to $10,000, said Steven M. Gursten, a traumatic brain injury lawyer and head of the personal injury law firm. 

Facebook fans of Michigan Auto Law will find blogs, videos, tips and statistics about traumatic brain injury throughout the month of March. "We want to help spread the word about traumatic brain injury and helping brain injury survivors," Gursten said.

Automobile accidents are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injury in the United States, affecting 1.7 million people (including 475,000 children). This year, 52,000 people will die from brain injury, 275,000 will be hospitalized and 1.4 million people will be treated and released from an ER, according to the Brain Injury Association of America.

"Traumatic brain injury can happen in an instant and it affects us all. It does not discriminate," Gursten said. Social consequences of TBI can include increased risk of suicide, divorce, chronic unemployment, economic strain and substance abuse, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The Brain Injury Association of Michigan, a non-profit organization, aims to improve the lives of people who have traumatic brain injury. It provides education, advocacy, research opportunities and support to brain injury survivors and the people who serve them.

Meanwhile, Gursten urges the public to become familiar with the symptoms of traumatic brain injury, which, according to the National Institutes of Health, include:

• Numbness

• Excessive drowsiness

• Severe headache

• Weakness in arms or legs

• Dizziness or loss of vision

• Slurred speech

• Loss of consciousness or confusion

• Vomiting or nausea