Family of brain injury patient looks to community for help

On a mid-October night last year, William Wells and his wife, Robyn, went to sleep just like any other night. Neither of them knew how dramatically their lives were about to change.

“At some point in the night, he woke up to use the restroom,” said Trena Wells, William’s sister. “The rest changed his life forever.”

Robyn found William lying unconscious in a pool of blood on the basement family room’s floor. She called 911 and soon paramedics were on the scene. He was transported by ambulance to OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton, where he was triaged and taken to Saint Louis University Hospital for a traumatic brain injury evaluation.

He spent the next 10 days in the Intensive Care Unit and Brain Trauma Center, slipping in and out of consciousness, before being released to family care Oct. 29.

“He had no idea what had happened to him, where he was, or where he’d been,” Trena said. “The first several weeks after the injury are still a blur to him.”

He suffered brain bleeds and concussions neurology teams said would take months or years to indicate how recovery would go.

Wells, a 1996 Edwardsville High School graduate, lives in Moro with his wife and their family, which includes three children — Trenton, 22; Sedric, 18; and Jaedyn, 16. He grew up in Dorsey with his parents, Glennand Debra Cooper, and sister Trena. He is a Chicago Blackhawks fan and tech guru.

“He was on course to a new position at RF Technologies at the time of the accident,” Trena added. “Since the hospital release, he has had some setbacks and some triumphs.

“Some of the daily setbacks are dizziness, nausea, headaches, memory loss, slow to no speech, lack of cognitive ability, empathy, sympathy, blood pressure spikes and so much more that we learn daily,” she said. “He has shown improvements in therapy on his retention and cognitive skills as well. It’s a slow process, but we knew that going into this journey. The treatment plan now is intense.”

Twice per week, he works with a concussion specialist and occupational therapy team at OSF Saint Anthony’s. Once weekly, he is with his speech therapist. There are also multiple appointments with his neurologist at OSF Saint Anthony’s and his SLU neurosurgery team.

“Added to that mix are the many appointments with his chiropractor for adjustments to relieve some of his daily symptoms, as well as ongoing treatment from his ENT specialist for his loss of taste and smell,” Trena said. “This is the plan for the next 8 to 12 months.”

The financial hardship has increased since William has been unable to return to work. Community help has started coming in, and Trena said the family knows they are blessed with the assistance.

Family friend Brenda Link of Moro said the family “is really struggling, trying to find help to just to make ends meet. The family also wants to get awareness out there about this illness.”

“The outpouring of support for Will and the family has been overwhelming,” Trena added.

There have been a few successful benefits, and Trena has partnered with family friend Shelly Dalton to coordinate fundraisers at Roma’s Pizza in Bethalto on Feb. 19 and Peel Wood Fired Pizza in Edwardsville on March 12.

To support the family as part of the Walking with Wells Benefit, the public can dine in or carry out, mention Will’s name, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated. A cornhole tournament will also take place May 11 at Bottoms Up Bar and Grill in Alton, and more ideas are being considered.

Readers can also directly donate through a GoFundMe page by visiting their Facebook page, Walking with Wells-Strength, Hope and Love.

“We want to also encourage everyone to read up about the effects of TBI, traumatic brain injury,” Trena added. “Everyone is welcome to visit our Facebook page and learn more.”

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