My About Page

My name is Craig J. Phillips and I sustained a traumatic brain injury in 1967 in a motor vehicle accident when I was 10 years old. In the car accident I sustained an open skull fracture, right frontal lobe damage, a severe brain bruise (coup contra coup) with brain stem involvement. The injuries to my brain resulted in my remaining in a coma for 3 weeks. The Dr.’s did not expect me to live the night of the accident. I also sustained a fractured left femur (thigh bone) at the time of the automobile accident. I remained in traction for 7-8 weeks to set the femur and then placed in a spica or full body cast. I remained in that cast for an additional 4-5 months.

In 1967 there was not much in the way of neurological rehabilitation. With hard work, determination, tenacity, persistence, encouragement from my family and most of all the grace of God I taught myself how to walk, talk, read, write and speak in complete sentences. After the spica cast was removed and I had begun to walk again I underwent several EEG’s and a battery of cognitive and psychosocial testing. I was mainstreamed back into elementary school in the 6th grade. The results of the testing were shared with my parents, however they elected to not share the results with me. Nevertheless, the impact of traumatic brain injury and my invisible disability would continue to hamper my life.

Some 29 years later, upon obtaining my graduate degree in rehabilitation counseling my Mom disclosed to me the test results of the EEG’s and other testing done in 1968. Although I was not expected to succeed beyond high school academically, I went on to obtain my undergraduate degree (in 10 years) and my graduate degree (in 5 years). My undergraduate degree was in theology from Oral Robert’s University and my graduate degree was from the University of Kentucky. Nevertheless the many struggles that I encountered during the course of obtaining both my undergraduate and graduate degrees were never considered to be the impact of the traumatic brain injury that I sustained when I was 10 years old. 

Because the impact of the injury to my brain remained hidden, I continued to buy into various denial systems. Because I bought into and defended these denial systems, I internalized my struggles. Consequently — for many years — I felt like a man all dressed up with no where to go. Although I diligently applied myself to my studies and career pursuits, I kept running into walls. What I had been striving to accomplish — through my efforts — was not working and I had no idea why my life was not working. Because I had a long history of getting and losing jobs – despite my diligence and hard work – I applied for SSDI and after my 3rd application. I was approved to begin receiving benefits some 13 years ago.

Nevertheless, I continued to look for ways to to use what I had to give that ways that would work for me. I wrote a book, Table Topics for the Soul — Journey to the Heart. I registered the book with the library of congress, but could not get the book published. I then wrote an autobiography, with a similar result. I continued to write and share my material with friends. One of those friends encouraged me to start a blog, as he put it, “Your material is ripe for a blog.” On February 6, 2007, with the encouragement of a friend I created   Second Chance to Live http://secondchancetolive.wordpress.com/ to share my experience, strength and hope — to encourage, motivate, empower and instill hope in people faced with adversity in their lives.

February 6, 2012 was Second Chance to Live’s 5 year anniversary. During the past 5 years I have written a total of 879 to date. Articles from Second Chance to Live can be found with in my Site Map for my Articles, which is located at http://wp.me/P3atD-1H.  To assist individuals who learn better through watching and listening, instead of by reading – I created a You Tube channel to share the video presentations of my articles. I use these video presentations to present my articles. A list of my video presentations can be found with in my Site Map for my You Tube Video presentations, which is located at http://wp.me/P3atD-3B3. To date I have created a total of 53 video presentations.

Several months ago I began creating and uploading video presentations to God Tube — a service which is similar to You Tube — to serve a different audience. To date I have created and uploaded 10 videos to God Tube. I would invite you to watch one of these presentations, by clicking on the following link my friend. Second Chance to Live – Don’t Give Up!

During the past 5 years Second Chance to Live has met a unique need, both nationally and internationally. Second Chance to Live has also been honored in many ways. To see a few of those ways, please click on the following links. As you read the various pages and questions or comments come to mind, please let me know my friend. Thank you.

Testimonials / Endorsements

Publications and Honors

Site Map for Interviews and Guest Radio Appearances

WTC U.S. Army AW2 Community Support Network

Euroacademia Multidisciplinaria Neurotraumatologica EMNe.V-Links

Second Chance to Live and the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses

Second Chance to Live and the Australasian Rehabilitation Nurses’ Association

Second Chance to Live and CDS at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa

Second Chance to Live and Intute

European Brain Injury Society

Second Chance to Live and the Brain Injury Association of Canada

Second Chance to Live and The Brain Injury Association of New Zealand

To read a more detailed account of my journey thus far, please read my 7 part series My Journey thus Far.

Here a the links 7 parts of my series, My Journey thus Far.

My Journey Thus Far

My Journey thus Far — Part 2

My Journey thus Far — Part 3

My Journey thus Far — Part 4

My Journey thus Far — Part 5

My Journey thus Far — Part 6

My Journey thus Far — Part 7

I want to thank you for being a friend of Second Chance to Live. I look forward to being of service to you and your family. In the event that I can be of service, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you. I will say so long for now, but before I do let me share some of my favorite quotes with you. As you read these quotes, may you be encouraged to follow your dreams, to trust the process, a loving God and yourself. Be encouraged my friend, more will be revealed to us in time. Be encouraged my friend, our circumstances are not meant to keep us down, but they are meant to build us up.

“For I know the plans that I have for you – says the Lord – plans for good and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 Old Testament

“Do not wait for leaders, do it alone, person to person.” Mother Teresa

“If you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams and endeavor to life the life that you have imagine…you will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau

“Do not judge your day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.” Robert Louis Stevenson

“Insist on yourself, never imitate. Your own gift you can present with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you only have an extemporaneous half-possession…Do that which is assigned to you, and you can not hope too much or dare too much.”Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You don’t have to be a person of influence to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they’ve taught me.” Scott Adams — American Cartoonist

“Everyone is trying to do some thing big, not realizing that life is made up of small things.” Frank A Clark

“I have heard that the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Once we start walking on that journey, before long we will be able to look back and see how far we have come on our journey — because we did not give up.” Craig J. Phillips MRC, BA

“…You see, in the final analysis it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.” Mother Teresa

Here is my Contact page. Send comments and questions and I will respond to you.

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All material presented on Second Chance to Live is copyright and cannot be, copied, reproduced, or distributed in any way without the express, written consent of Craig J. Phillips, MRC, BA All rights reserved. Expressed written permission is required to re-publish material presented on Second Chance to Live Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND