Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 6, 1994 TAG: 9401060283
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Conn was 2 years old in 1965 when his family's car was hit broadside by a teen-age driver who ran a stop sign.
Conn was in the back seat, standing on the floorboard behind his father, who was driving. The impact hurled Conn through the rear windshield. His head struck a rock when he landed.
For several months, he was in a coma. The doctors could not tell his parents if he would recover normal functions.
His parents' injuries were not as extensive. Their car was not equipped with seat belts, which became mandatory in 1967.
Conn had to relearn all those first steps - walking, talking, feeding himself - that he'd already taken as a normal child. For 28 years, he has had to live with the pain of being labeled "different."
Now 30, Conn takes his story on the road, speaking to school, civic and driver education groups about the injustices that can occur when drivers get careless behind the wheel and people don't use their car's safety restraints.
Using his own life an example, Conn gives a firsthand account of what it's like to live with permanent brain damage, impaired speech and impaired coordination.
"This is what can happen to you. This is what you can do to somebody else, if you don't buckle up and drive safely," he recently told a driver improvement class at the Cardinal Criminal Justice Academy in Salem.
"You may not crash and die, but you may end up living with this kind of injury, or with what you do to someone else."
The Department of Motor Vehicles Transportation Safety Division maintains a federal minigrant to reimburse Conn for gas and expenses, up to about $25, when he is sent by DMV to address a group, said Mary King, the division's public relations specialist.
But Conn mostly volunteers his time to help traffic safety organizations promote their messages and to encourage teens and adults to become better drivers.
For his efforts, Conn was named 1992 District Traffic Safety Volunteer of the Year, the highest award given annually by the District Community Traffic Safety Board. Conn's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Conn of Daleville, attended his award presentation.
Conn attributes his success and self-esteem to the love and support of his parents and two sisters.
"They've stuck by me in everything I've attempted to do," Conn said.
He lives independently, has his own apartment, drives a car and works as a dishwasher in the dietetic department at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem. But the brain injury left Conn with a learning disability that affects his memory.
"When I take a test, I know the material but I can't get it from my memory and down on paper," he said. "I wanted to go to college and get a desk job one day, but I've been trying now for six or seven years and still not gotten past the basics."
Conn said he even has had people tell him he will never be able to have a desk job.
"Do you know how bad that makes you feel?" he asked the driver improvement class. "Every time you get behind the wheel, think about what I've said and about how hard I've had to struggle because of someone else's carelessness. Don't let this happen to you. Watch out for the other driver."
Conn graduated from Cave Spring High School and attended some classes at Virginia Western Community College. In high school, he ran track and cross country. He still likes to run, lift weights, swim and do aerobics.
As for the future, Conn hopes to tell his story to even more people, more groups. He also is collecting signatures on a petition to make wearing seat belts in both front and back seats a law.
"I love doing this. I get a lot of satisfaction from trying to help other people avoid what happened to me."
by CNB