Morgan City man celebrates recovery from head trauma

HOUSTON — Rock band Queen wasn’t Al Hebert’s preferred taste. But it was his wife’s favorite band, so he was happy to go with her to Houston for a concert in July 2014. They had a great time. The next morning, the Morgan City couple planned to visit Austin.
Unfortunately, the trek to Austin would have to wait. Hebert was in a car accident, where he appeared fine but could not answer simple questions from paramedics.
He was rushed to Harris Health System’s Ben Taub Hospital where he was quickly diagnosed with a severe head injury. A skull fracture to be exact.
Today, the 40-year-old rates his recovery an eight out of a scale of 1-10 (bad to good).
He says he still has good and bad days, but expected May 24, the date of Harris Health System’s annual Trauma Survivors Celebration, to be a good one.
He was joined by other trauma survivors attending the event that recognizes remarkable triumphs and recoveries of patients treated at Ben Taub and Lyndon B. Johnson hospitals, sites of Level 1 and Level 3 trauma centers, respectively.
It reunites patients with members of their hospital care team, and in some cases, first responders.
The event is held in May to coincide with National Trauma Awareness Month.
Hebert was suffering from significant bleeding and swelling of his brain. After several surgeries and the pressure on his brain continuing, surgeons placed him in a medically induced coma and finally removed part of his skull to control the pressure.
“The neurological intensive care unit was absolutely, absolutely amazing,” recalled Lauren Hebert, his wife. “I didn’t know people cared for patients the way these nurses and doctors did. They were awesome.”
Hebert stayed in the hospital for 19 days before going to a rehabilitation hospital. Two surgeries followed.
Still improving, he’s completed physical and occupational therapy, continues speech therapy and uses a series of iPad apps to help with speech and cognitive skills. At first, he could barely talk; now he talks well unless he’s overly tired.
His biggest change was resigning from a job he loved, one he started on his 18th birthday, to concentrate on his recovery.
When they visit Ben Taub, senior patient liaison Michael Segal — himself a trauma survivor after being shot in the face — asks the couple to talk with families whose loved ones are in the same intensive care unit Hebert was treated.
“When you see what they’re going through, you want to help,” he said. Lauren Hebert, who remembers most of her husband’s care, encourages families not to stress about numbers: “Ignore the monitors and focus on your loved one.”
Lyndon B. Johnson and Ben Taub hospitals are parts of the Houston-Harris County emergency response system. Both facilities combine to treat nearly 172,000 emergency patient visits and trauma cases annually.