Jeff's Story
Jeff Barnes passed away on his son's (Alex) birthday, January 27, 2010, after fighting for over 8 years to overcome his brain injury. The amount of support from the community, brain injury survivors, family and freinds has been overwhelming for all that have been affected by his injury.
He is the inspiration behind the Jeff Barnes Brain Injury Foundation. On December 27, 2001, Jeff sustained a severe brain injury. At that time, he was the father of a 7 year old daughter, Gabriella, and a 23 month old son, Alex. Although his prognosis was always guarded and, in fact, the doctors stated on more than one occasion that there was little chance of a meaningful recovery, his wife, children, family, friends and caregivers worked hard to improve that chance. His circumstances were unique in support by family and friends, and advocacy provided by so many.
His wife, Cheri, and their children, always tried to keep life as close to
normal as possible. Jeff was able to see his children grow and participated in their lives as much as possible. Although he never regained his ability to walk or talk, he communicated in so many different ways - whether it be laughing, crying,
yelling out or just a simple smile - all things he couldn't do
for many years.