Couldn't Happen to Me: A Life Changed by Paralysis and Traumatic Brain Injury

Couldn't Happen to Me offers hope to families facing the unthinkable: a vibrant 26-year-old mowed down by a hopeless drunk and left for dead. Author Jill Mason has battled back from expectations that she would not recover beyond a vegetative state to fully independent living even as she continues to struggle with traumatic brain injury and life in a wheelchair. Her story begins in 2004 when she is left in a crumpled heap on the side of a Santa Rosa highway, her boyfriend killed outright. Drawing on family journals and her own hazy memories, she details the challenges of the first few months while she was hospitalized and then the painfully long recovery in her childhood home. Against all odds, she successfully pushes to regain her independence. Fearlessly honest, Jill generously shares her frustrations as well as practical advice on types of chairs, buying a car, and dating. Most of all, she offers her indomitable spirit as an inspiration to her readers.

Jill Mason was 26 in 2004 when she was hit by a drunk driver in Santa Rosa, California, while riding her bike in preparation for an upcoming triathlon. Her boyfriend, Alan Liu, was killed outright. With a newly-minted master’s degree in communications, Jill had worked for an engineering firm and pursued her love of athletics. She played lacrosse for Santa Clara University, from which she graduated in 1999. She was a champion high school runner in Grass Valley where she grew up--and to which she returned after the accident when she was unable to take care of herself. Although she remained in a coma for months, through extraordinary determination, hard work, and loving care, she has managed to begin to live independently in Sacramento. She gives speeches to new cadets in the California Highway Patrol, talks with students all over northern California, and in 2008 was selected through a competitive essay contest to be an Olympics torchbearer, an experience covered by international media.