‘Walk for Thought’ to raise money, awareness for brain injuries

SARTELL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Mea Wanna was planning a fun night out at a karaoke contest back in 2010. She had everything she needed to make an impression - -a good voice and the right song. But it ended before it even started.

Traumatic injury

"I’m standing on the dance floor, and I’m waiting for my song to come up when a stranger comes around and picks me up by my thighs and stumbles and my head breaks my fall," Wanna recalls of the moment her head hit the floor.

She was rushed to the hospital where the doctors discovered a skull fracture and a frontal lobe brain bleed.

"I had a migraine for over six years straight, constant, that made my life very difficult," she said.

The recovery was slow and led to confusion.

"I had personality changes. My relationships changed. My life changed, my abilities changed," Wanna said of the grief that followed.

Not alone

The Minnesota Department of Health reports that more than 100,000 Minnesotans suffer from brain injury related disabilities. Each brain injury is unique and each survivor’s recovery is different.

One of the organizations that help survivors on their recovery journey is the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance, which is sponsoring the Walk for Thought on Saturday, Sept. 21, at Long Lake Regional Park in New Brighton. 

The walk not only raises awareness about traumatic brain injuries, it also raises money.

"The funds that are raised to help provide free services for the individuals that have sustained the brain injury, their family, their friends," said Brad Donaldson of the Brain Injury Alliance. "Brain injury has a ripple effect and not only affects the individual; it affects their circles around them, their family members, their loved ones, their supporters."

One of the services the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance provides is matching a survivor with a case manager. That person helps coordinate services that the survivor and their caregivers may need in their recovery.

For Wanna, her case manager made a big difference.

"Just knowing she was going to call made me feel more at ease and made me feel safe because I really felt like I was going to slip through the cracks," said Wanna.

Part of her recovery journey has navigated her back to music. This time around, she doesn’t have to sing in karaoke contests, instead she’s singing in a band called Trace Elements.

"As soon as I started singing, I felt like life was flowing again. And I didn't feel like I had a brain injury," said Wanna of her love of performing again. "So music and art really became a big part of my recovery journey."

As for the Walk for Thought, she has her own team called "Paint This World Beautiful."

To join her and other teams, sign up here.