Community Spotlight: Brooks Family

For the first few seconds after he fell onto the field, J.T. Brooks believed the stillness gripping his body was simply a stinger.

Well known to football players, the nerve injury arrives on the heels of a tough tackle, locking the neck and shoulder and leaving the arm feeling dead. But as his body remained on the ground – and out of his control – the 16-year-old quarterback realized this was different.

From his perch in the bleachers, his father knew it, too.

“J.T. had never laid on the field in his life,” Jimmy Brooks said. “Never in the history of the game.”

The springtime scrimmage paused, and Jimmy hustled toward the field. Maybe his son had hurt his knee or snapped his collarbone, he thought. But when he got there, J.T. told him he couldn’t move.

“It was immediate,” Jimmy says. “You sort of know and you don’t know.”

Days later – after the longest ambulance ride of his life, after J.T. survived emergency surgery to stabilize a C6-C7 spinal cord injury, after the doctor explained there was little chance his son would walk again – Jimmy returned home for the first time since the scrimmage. He was standing in the kitchen, exhausted, when his cell phone rang. A stranger was on the other end of the line, calling with a promise that would anchor the coming years of the Brooks’ lives.

“It was Alan Brown from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation,” Jimmy recalls. “And he said, ‘We're here to support you, and we're going to be there every step of the way.’”

Each year, the National Paralysis Resource Center (NPRC) at the Reeve Foundation serves as a lifeline for thousands of families across the country: its vast free digital and print library helps community members quickly grasp complex health issues, while its peer mentor program provides connection and critical support to individuals and caregivers alike.

But the beating heart of the NPRC is the team of Information Specialists who help families like the Brooks navigate life with paralysis, including the terrifying and disorienting days immediately after a spinal cord injury (SCI).

In the tightly knit town of Rogersville, Tennessee, J.T. was a beloved athlete, known for his fierce work ethic and humble manner. His injury sparked a wave of news coverage that made its way to Director of Information and Resource Services Bernadette Mauro and Alan T. Brown, Reeve’s man-on-the-ground in the South. Brown’s quick conversation with Jimmy a few days after the accident was not the end of their outreach, but just the beginning.

During the weeks and months that followed, Brown and Mauro’s phone numbers quickly became part of Jimmy’s speed dial as he texted and called with questions that couldn’t wait. About rehabilitation and pressure wounds. About insurance and equipment. About how to best support J.T.’s sister and brother through their shock and grief.

"They’re really there for the family,” Jimmy says. “Their plan is not just for the injured person. They realize that the whole family needs education. It needs training. It needs support.”

The Brooks discovered that Brown and Mauro had not only spent decades guiding families through the “new normal” of life with paralysis but also lived with SCI themselves. The resources they shared and the advice they gave – about everything from using a powerchair to preventing shoulder injuries to learning how to drive an adapted truck – were honed by expertise and a deep understanding of the challenges J.T. faced.

When J.T. transferred to Shepherd Center in Atlanta for rehabilitation, Brown drove up from Florida to visit. He spoke with him about his own injury, sustained during a diving accident when he was just 20 years old, and the successful career and family he’d built in its wake.

“We hit it off from the jump,” J.T. says. “There's a level of comfort in any situation where you have something in common with someone. There's definitely a different kind of bond that is immediately formed.”

As he recovered and reclaimed his life – returning to Rogersville to hit the local Sonic Drive-In with friends, graduating from high school and college (Emory & Henry University ‘22), earning a master's degree from William & Mary – J.T. appreciated the support Brown and Mauro gave his family and their willingness to be honest with him.  

“I just very felt very comfortable asking them any sort of question and knowing they're going to give it to me straight,” he says.

Nine years after the injury, life has steadied for the Brooks, but they remain part of Reeve’s community, tasked on occasion with reaching out to newly injured families just as Brown and Mauro reached out to them.

“Anytime they call, we answer,” Jimmy says. “We have to pay it forward.”

J.T., now 25 years old, is an inventory analyst for Permobil in Knoxville, where he lives with his girlfriend. He spends his free time exploring the city and cheering on Tennessee football at every home game. Entirely independent, he sometimes catches himself thinking about how far he’s come.

“How lucky are we?” he says. “I’m very blessed and very at peace with where I’m at in my life.”

Jimmy catches himself sometimes, too. He never doubted that J.T. would be OK– “He was always tough, and he was always determined” – but believes the help from Reeve was critical.

“There's no amount of money you could put on the price of what Alan and Bernadette and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation did for our family to help overcome this,” he says, adding, “I've met Alan. I've never met Bernadette. It’s a goal of mine to get to meet her in person and hug her neck and thank her for all she's done.”

For more information about the National Paralysis Resource Center, or to speak with an Information Specialist about paralysis, visit our website at www.ChristopherReeve.org/Ask or call 1-800-539-7309.