FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tanya Mitchell
Tanya@LearningRx.com
(719)264-8808
Little Rock Young Woman Named National
Student of the Year
Car accident alters course, brain training
helps build life skills
Colorado Springs, Colo., August 24, 2010 – Summer Russell of Little Rock, Ark. Is the 2010 recipient of the LearningRx Student of the Year award. The award was presented to Summer’s LearningRx director at a ceremony in Colorado Springs in late July.
Summer’s story is one of hope, determination and inspiration for others, especially young people struggling with a traumatic brain injury. She finished high school in 2006, scored a 29 on her ACT and was offered three college scholarships. Summer planned on becoming an engineer like her father, and at the end of her first semester at Arkansas Tech she had a 4.0 GPA.
But that December, Summer was in a terrible car accident and was thrown from her car. She was airlifted to the hospital with extensive injuries, including a broken neck and severe brain injury. “The initial information we got from the trauma doctor … [was that] Summer wasn’t going to make it,” said Summer’s father, Terry Russell, “[and] that people didn’t survive the type of injuries that she had sustained.”
But just had she done all her life, Summer was determined to succeed.
She spent the next three years in different types of therapy. “Summer did physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and she was doing a hyperbaric oxygen chamber,” explained Yousef Fahoum, Summer’s brain trainer at LearningRx. “She had problems with most cognitive functions and really didn’t score anywhere on the initial intake assessments.”
When Summer first met with the LearningRx team in Little Rock, she needed assistance and caregivers throughout the day. She could not read, climb stairs or take care of her own hygiene. She refused to be alone.
After 12 weeks at LearningRx, Summer had made huge gains. She was reading chapter books, her impulsivity had decreased and her self-confidence had soared. But there were other changes; she was also walking upright, taking her own showers, dressing herself and doing her own hair and makeup. She had moved back to her own bedroom upstairs. She also began to send email, use Facebook and cook. People would stop and tell her parents that the old Summer was back, just a bit slower. The family is now optimistic that one day Summer will return to college.
“Our expectations were probably not real high, just based on previous experience with Summer,” said Terry, “but after the LearningRx sessions that she’s had now, I think our goal is that she would be able to get back into the world as an independent person …and be able to go back to college … even if it’s a class at a time. I expect that she would be able to do that after our experience that we’ve had with LearningRx.”
“Summer is our Student of the Year, because she exemplifies everything we do at LearningRx,” says Tanya Mitchell, LearningRx Vice President of Research and Development. “We change lives every day. We strengthen weak skills that limit our students’ choices in life and give them the tools and the self-confidence to thrive. Summer is a great example of the power of brain training, and we’re very proud of her. She’s an inspiration to others struggling with a traumatic brain injury.”
About LearningRx
LearningRx specializes in identifying and correcting the underlying cognitive skill deficiencies that keep people from achieving their full potential in school, business or life. Personal brain trainers use intensive one-on-one game-like exercises to quickly enhance weak cognitive skills such as attention, memory, processing speed, and problem solving. More than 25,000 students have gone through the training at more than 70 franchised locations across the country. To learn more, visit www.learningrx.com.
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