When Bruce Josefson walked across the stage to receive his diploma from Centreville High, Tuesday afternoon at GMU's Patriot Center, it wasn't just any student graduating. It was an 18-year-old boy who, in November, lay in a coma after being severely injured in a car accident.
BUT HE refused to give up. And since then, he's made remarkable progress, fighting back valiantly against his injuries and completing his studies so he could graduate with his classmates.
"He's walking stiffly, but capably," said his mom, Jean Josefson of Little Rocky Run. "He started back to school, May 31, and it was gratifying for me to see the kids greeting him again, for the first time."
The accident occurred Nov. 19, 2004 — just four days before Bruce's 18th birthday. An Eagle Scout involved with his church and community, he played on Centreville's golf team, was taking kung fu lessons and had a new interest in auto mechanics.
"He played SYA soccer for years and was still playing on the same team he'd been on since third grade," said Josefson. "At school, he especially liked his AP government class with teacher Terri Ritchey. And every year, he and a group of people from Centreville United Methodist Church volunteered for the Appalachian Service Project, repairing houses in Appalachia. Bruce's favorite thing was to roof."
He's been accepted to Virginia Tech and hopes to go into mechanical engineering; but first, he needs to continue his rehabilitation. As for his crash, the exact cause is still a mystery. Said Josefson: "Bruce doesn't remember the accident and didn't even remember what car he was driving."
THAT NIGHT, he was heading toward the Little Rocky Run home of brothers Andrew and Ryan Sills, also Centreville students. The three had been in Manassas building a go-cart, and the Sills brothers were following Bruce in their own cars.
He was driving a 1982 BMW on Compton Road, coming from Route 28, around 8 p.m., and the weather was foggy and wet. He wasn't speeding, and neither drugs nor alcohol were involved. And, said his mom, "He was a very careful driver and had been driving close to 1 1/2 years." Yet somehow, he crashed.
"He had his accident on a gentle curve headed into a straightaway," she said. "I think a deer darted out in front of him. I have no way of proving it, but I can't explain how he ended up this way, otherwise. He went off the road on the passenger side, but the car spun around 180 degrees and struck a tree on the driver's side."
"His friends saved his life," said Josefson. "All three of them are Eagle Scouts, and their Boy Scout training kicked in. Andrew held Bruce's head steady to protect it and talked to him to keep him conscious. Ryan called for help and described the situation to the EMTs as they walked to him."
Bruce was airlifted to Inova Fairfax Hospital. Initially, said Josefson, it was thought he'd sustained three breaks in his legs, and that was the extent of his injuries. "They sedated him for surgery and repaired two of the three breaks," she said. Trouble was, several weeks passed, and he didn't regain consciousness.
However, since Bruce has a pacemaker defibrillator implanted in his chest due to a congenital heart condition, doctors couldn't do an MRI because it would have compromised the defibrillator. But by process of elimination, they discovered that the fat in the bone marrow of Bruce's broken femur had gone into his bloodstream and gotten into his lungs, causing Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
"Somehow, these fat emboli made their way into the bloodstream leading to the brain and peppered his brain in a buckshot pattern and caused a brain injury," said Josefson. "He couldn't wake up from his coma, so we went to Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center [in Charlottesville] because they have a program using medication to stimulate the brain out of the coma."
BRUCE WAS there for two weeks before he "came back" to his worried family — including dad Carl, an electrical engineer with Welkin Associates, and brother Ben, a JMU senior. "The light returned to his eyes," said his mom, who works part-time in human resources for Independence Air. "There was a big difference one day, and we could see that Bruce was back."
However, he'd also suffered a spinal injury, but it wasn't discovered until some time after he'd been in Kluge and the muscles in his arms failed to activate. A myelogram revealed a high-up, spinal-cord injury affecting his arms and some muscles in his upper body, such as his shoulders and chest.
In addition, the brain injury caused a short-term memory loss and adversely impacted some of Bruce's cognitive functions. Said Jean Josefson: "He doesn't remember some things — like a hiking trip to New Mexico — but he remembers what he learned in government class."
She said it's still difficult for him to write school papers based on what he's read, but doctors expect significant improvement in this area once he's rebuilt the memory paths in his brain.
Bruce also had to relearn how to write and walk. And for quite awhile, his vocal cords were paralyzed so he couldn't eat and had to be tube-fed because it wasn't safe for him to swallow. But he could whisper and, while at Kluge, he took English and government classes — the last two he needed for his high-school diploma.
Praising his "amazing spirit," his mom said Kluge staff always commented on his smile, attitude and work ethic. And despite the gravity of his many injuries, she said, Bruce "hasn't let it stop him." He's had neurological pain in his feet, but mostly works through it. Said Josefson: "Even when it feels like he's being hit by a train, he continues on with his therapy."
At Kluge, he received physical, occupational and speech therapy, six days a week, plus recreation therapy — fun activities that let him work on his deficits. For example, to improve his small-motor and cognitive skills, he played Scrabble — requiring him to move the tiles, unscramble letters and make words.
Meanwhile, said Josefson, a support network headed by next-door neighbor Jodi LeBlanc and people from church helped the family through the whole ordeal. "People we don't even know — like people new to Carl's company — sent e-mails of support, as have teachers from Centreville," she said. "The kids at school visited and sent cards and e-mails, and Principal Peter Noonan was at the hospital, the night of the accident."
AS FOR KLUGE, she said, "We doubt we could have gotten better treatment anywhere. They treated us like their own." Bruce was there from Dec. 28 until May 27, and so were his parents, but they all came home for good on Memorial Day weekend.
Bruce was able to eat normally again in mid-April. And although at first he had to use special supports to help him lift his arms in the air to, for example, shave, play cards or use a computer, he no longer needs them. He's continuing his therapies at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital and, now that school's over, he'll devote even more time to them.
"The doctors are hopeful that he'll continue to see improvement, but they haven't made any predictions," said his mom. "But when he checked out of Kluge, the occupational therapist said he's six months ahead of where he expected him to be at this time, with his arms. He's now able to putt, and I firmly believe the day will come when he'll be able to hit a long drive again. What he wants to do more than anything else is play golf."
In May, Bruce even participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event, walking 2 1/4 miles with his church youth group in honor of a congregation member with cancer. Said Josefson: "We were very proud of him."
She said the family also "appreciates all the support that's been shown us in so many ways." And their friends were glad to do whatever they could after Bruce's accident. "It was such a shock," said Liz Walker, a Westfield High sophomore who knows Bruce through the church. "You never expect it to happen to people you know, and especially the Josefsons, because they're such wonderful people."
Liz and Bruce helped raise funds for the Appalachian mission trip and then participated in it. After his crash, Liz and her mom Edie, of Centreville's Virginia Chase community, visited him at Kluge every few weeks.
"HE HAS a positive attitude and faces his challenges head-on," said Edie Walker. "There's no complaining, no whining — and that's a lesson for adults, too, as well as his peers."
When Bruce was finally able to return to school, he brought everyone up to speed on what was happening in his life. "A few people were pretty shocked," he said. "But they were glad to see me."
He said he's feeling fine and the toughest part of his rehabilitation is "getting up so early for therapy." However, he added, "I need to become more flexible; I'm very stiff." But Bruce knows he can master this hurdle, too, and things will improve with time. Meanwhile, he said, "It feels great to be home and to sleep in my own bed."
Over the past seven months, said Edie Walker, "The family has really shown character, strength and faith, and it's a real inspiration. And Bruce keeps smiling through it all. He still has a long road, but he's come a long way."