For the last three decades, March has been recognize as Brain Injury Awareness month. One area, Light Up To Live hopes to help shed light on, especially during Brain Injury Awareness Month, is the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that many of our military men and women suffer with. According to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC), there were 383,947 service members diagnosed with TBI from 2000-2018 Q1.

Watch this video from Make the Connection about two Veterans who served after 9/11 who live with TBI.

Thanks to increasing awareness and enhanced technology, doctors are able to improve diagnostics and increase vigilance. The Department of Defense (DOD) estimates that 22 percent of all combat casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan are brain injuries, compared with 12 percent of Vietnam-related combat casualties.

Neurotrauma research is a priority to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Military personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan have surviving numbers compared to generations thanks to advances in body armor, battlefield medicine, and medical evacuation transport. As a result, more Veterans are living with disabling injuries, including the often-lifelong effects of TBI.

As Army Veterans, Justin and Brent discussed in the video above, they struggle living with the effects of TBI. Like many, they shared how their injuries led to long-term mental and physical health problems that also caused problems in other areas of life, from employment to family relationships.

The Mission of Light Up To Live

Light Up To Live Foundation is founded by Randall and Sherry Reed. As a military family,  they are dedicated to raising awareness about the members of our U.S. Armed Forces and Veterans living with the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), tissue injury, pain and depression. The foundation funds polychromatic light therapy systems that have been shown to increase blood flow in the body and reduce associated minor pain for active military and Veterans that we identify could most benefit from its use. Light Up To Live helps connect these military members and their families to other organizations that are in alignment with our mission to provide direct aid and assistance. We want to light a path to better health.

How You Can Help 

The foundation holds three annual charity events to help complete the mission.
Click to explore LUTL 2018 events:
Light Up To Live’s three annual events funds raised go toward donating:
  • Polychromatic LED Light Therapy Systems are purchased and donated to other charities that provide physical and emotional therapy to veterans learning adaptive skills.
  • Polychromatic LED Light Therapy Systems are donated for personal use by veterans who can use the kits at home or away from their physical therapy center.
  • Funding of Service Dogs trained specifically for use by Veterans living with PTS, TBI and physical injuries to enhance their daily adaptive living needs – including 18 months of training and five years of canine food and veterinary care.

If you are interested in joining forces, our next Light Up To Live charity events will take place September 12-14th. The weekend will include our annual golf tournament, clay shoot and gala. More details are coming soon. Please make sure to follow our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest information.