After a near drowning, a teen accepts she's 'a different person'

By Louise Kinross

Recently, Holland Bloorview family therapist Caron Gan sent me this message:

‘Yesterday I went to pick up a prescription at my local drug store and was served by a former [patient]. She had sustained a significant brain injury from a near drowning, and was not expected to live. In spite of this, she made a great recovery and was determined to be a pharmacist...Her mom has been instrumental in supporting her daughter. Seeing her behind the pharmacy counter brought such joy to my heart. I wonder if this could be a story to inspire others who are in the earlier stages of their rehab journey?’

In 2011, Chantel Asamoah almost drowned when she was pulled into an undertow at Woodbine Beach in Toronto. Chantel, then 15, didn’t know how to swim and was playing in the water with friends. One friend, a lifeguard, tried to pull her out, but Chantel was in such a state of panic that she pushed her down. Her friends ran to call 911. An emergency crew arrived, but couldn’t locate Chantel, so they formed a search line with others on the beach and walked into the water. “When they did find me I’d been under for about 10 minutes and had a very weak pulse,” Chantel says.

We spoke about Chantel’s brain injury and how she’s learned to cope with it in her journey to become a pharmacist. She’s almost finished her third year at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto.

BLOOM: What was your prognosis when you got to the hospital?

Chantel Asamoah: The doctors told my mom I wouldn’t be able to walk or talk, and would essentially be a vegetable. They weren’t sure if I was going to make it, and they asked if she wanted to donate my organs.

I was at SickKids for two weeks and the first time I woke up my mom said I was confused about what happened and why I was there. I still have no memory of the accident. When I woke up I thought I was younger than I was. After SickKids I was at Holland Bloorview for two months.

BLOOM: What was the biggest challenge?

Chantel Asamoah: My memory. I couldn’t remember what I had eaten the night before, and I couldn’t remember how some family and friends were related to me. There was also a big impact on my processing speed. It took me a very, very long time to take in information. My mother noticed that generally my personality was different—I would become agitated more quickly and my responses were more emotional. Speaking and eating were okay, but I had some problems with word finding.

When I first came to Bloorview I was in a wheelchair. Then I began to walk, but I was a lot clumsier and had problems with balance and coordination. That’s what I worked on in physio.

Before I was injured I played sports at a high level: basketball, volleyball and flag football. That was the end of me being involved in sports.

BLOOM: How did you cope with all these changes?

Chantel Asamoah: At first I was kind of angry about it. I didn’t want to accept it. I just wanted to pretend that rehab was something I had to do, but when I got out of here, my life would be the same. Now it’s been almost eight years, and I’ve definitely accepted my brain injury and I’m working on my coping skills.

BLOOM: You mentioned your mom felt your personality had changed. How did you feel compared to before the injury?

Chantel Asamoah: I felt like a totally different person. Things that came naturally to me before weren’t the same anymore. It was harder to do simple things, like playing sports. I was pretty emotional about it because sports had been a huge part of my life.

In terms of studying, I was a very smart student. I wouldn’t say my brain injury increased or decreased my intelligence, but it made it harder for me to study. Something that before took me an hour would now take three hours. I had to take a lot of breaks and I was easily fatigued and had to take naps. And it was hard to concentrate in class.

Part of accepting that you have a disability is accepting that others may not completely understand. For example, when I first went back to high school, most people knew I was getting accommodations. I was still performing well with the same marks, but with more effort. My other peers would tell me ‘Why do you get extra time for an exam when you get higher marks than me?’

BLOOM: I’ve heard other youth with brain injuries talk about how they lost friends after the injury.

Chantel Asamoah: The whole situation was hard on my friends, especially the ones at the beach and the ones who came to the hospital to see me every day. They thought everything was the same. It was hard for them to cope with the fact that I was a different person.

I would say I lost a lot of friends. But I was also able to have new friendships with people who didn’t know me before the incident. So it was a brand new slate.

It was especially hard for my mom to understand that the way I process things or react to things is slightly different. Caron Gan made a big impact on my mom’s life. Her sessions with my mom helped her to understand how to better cope and deal with me as I was transitioning from hospital.

BLOOM: Can you talk about that transition?

Chantel Asamoah: When you’re in the hospital, everything is idealized, compared to real life.

BLOOM: Do you mean protected?

Chantal Asamoah: Yes. It’s not till you leave the hospital that you’re dealing with everyday stressors. When I left, Caron visited regularly with my mom at home, which was good, because my mom doesn’t drive and works.

[Social worker] Val Lusted met regularly with me at my high school, to help me cope. I had a lot of anxiety surrounding the fact that I was diagnosed with a brain injury, and wondering how it would impact my relationships with my friends or work or the sports I used to be involved in. One of the things Val did was talk about relaxation techniques. I still use them when I’m extremely stressed out, especially at school.

Before my accident, I was a perfectionist. That is very hard to do when you have a brain injury. When I first got out of the hospital, I was fighting the diagnosis and Val helped me come to terms with that, and with understanding that not everything can be perfect. She taught me ways to cope with things when they aren’t perfect, ways that are more desirable than getting angry and lashing out.

It’s really important to have these supports after you leave, because when you’re in hospital, you don’t get a taste of how your brain injury will impact everyday life. I’ve heard that a lot of this work is now done while patients are in hospital. For me, it was meeting with Val after I left that really helped me in finally accepting that this is a part of me. I feel it was a big factor in my school outcome.

I also worked with Sara Diederichs, a community resource teacher from the Bloorview School. She helped with my transition from high school to post-secondary school. At our high school there was a guidance counsellor, but it wasn’t the same. Sara understood the intricacies of dealing with someone with brain injury.

BLOOM: Were you able to finish high school with your peers?

Chantel Asamoah: Yes. My accident happened right after I wrote my Grade 10 exams and I went back to school the second week of classes in September.

BLOOM: How did you decide on going into pharmacy?

Chantel Asamoah: Pharmacy was a goal for me before my brain injury and I decided I wanted it to stay a goal. Because I had to give up on some things, like sports, I wanted to be able to maintain some part of what I was before.

I’ve always been interested in the sciences, biology and chemistry. I wanted to help people, but I didn’t necessarily think other healthcare positions jived with my personality. I also noticed that I liked educating people.

I was a tutor in high school and did a lot of mentorship programs with other students. Pharmacy is a good blend between having knowledge of the drugs and the biology and chemistry, and education. You’re taking that knowledge and applying it to patients—whether you’re solving their drug therapy needs or educating them about their medication or condition.

BLOOM: What has pharmacy school been like?

Chantel Asamoah: It’s been difficult for me, but rewarding. It’s been difficult because of the sheer amount of work and information I have to go through, and the number of courses. I’m finding it’s important to advocate for myself. I’m glad I got a lot of practice doing that in my last years of high school and first years of university.

BLOOM: What kind of work do you want to do when you graduate?

Chantel Asamoah: I really enjoy community pharmacy. I’ve been working in a pharmacy since my first year and what appeals to me is getting to build relationships with patients. When you work at a community pharmacy you see patients grow up. They come back and thank you for the recommendation you gave them last week. Even now, I have patients who come and remember my name or call and ask to speak with me.

BLOOM: It seems that you would bring special qualities to this work because of your health experiences.

Chantel Asamoah: In school, we don’t talk much about invisible disabilities or brain injuries. I think I have a certain understanding with patients who have an invisible condition. I know that even though things look normal on the outside, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are. It gives me extra perspective and an understanding that things may not be as they appear. It allows me to be more sensitive.

Some of my co-workers tell me ‘Chantel, you’re too patient with some people.’ I think I understand the importance of patience. I needed people to be patient with me. Patients will come back looking for me because they know I’ll go through all of their medications and answer all their questions.

BLOOM: What do you hope to do when you graduate?

Chantel Asamoah: My hope is I’ll get a full-time job in a community pharmacy. I also want to be involved in advocacy for invisible disabilities and disabilities in general. I’ve reached out to Dolly Menna-Dack with the youth advisory.

BLOOM: When you were in hospital here did you meet other youth with brain injuries, or hear from people who were further along with their journey?

Chantel Asamoah: I didn’t hear stories about how other people were affected, or how people were dealing with it successfully. It would have been nice to hear.

BLOOM: I remember that a few years ago we were able to connect a current inpatient with a former one and she said she found it so helpful to speak to someone who understood.

Chantel Asamoah: I think it would be very encouraging.

BLOOM: I understand you volunteered in our pharmacy before you went to pharmacy school?

Chantel Asamoah: Yes, it was my first exposure to pharmacy. I learned a lot about the accuracy that is needed, and it was a safe environment for me to learn how my disability might impact my work in the field. Everyone knew I was a past patient, and they understood more about invisible disability than the general public. They really focused on what goals I wanted to reach, and only expected me to do things that they knew I could do.

BLOOM: What advice would you give other youth earlier on in their rehab for brain injury?

Chantel Asamoah: What's important to be able to move on is acceptance. You have to accept that although the brain injury doesn't define who you are, it is a part of your life. It doesn't mean everything is now negative. Once you accept it's part of you, it allows your mind to think of ways to cope with things.

Advocacy is very important. Only you, yourself, know exactly what you need in terms of accommodations at school, or how you want your family members to treat you. That reflection on what it is that you need is important.