Noe Santos-Dilone

Sometimes the most critical injuries are those beneath the surface. Early TBI screening gave Noe Santos-Dilone and the VA the information they needed to effectively treat him. If every veteran had the same screening, the VA could identify and rehabilitate those in need.

On September 6, 2005, Noe Santos-Dilone was stationed as a gunner on a Humvee traveling from Camp Taji to Baghdad. As they approached an intersection, his convoy was attacked, flipping his vehicle five times and killing two passengers instantly. Before he lost consciousness, he remembers seeing that his leg was severely wounded.

In the first foggy days of his rehabilitation, the effects of TBI were just as troubling as the loss of his leg. Aside from his parents, he didn’t recognize names or faces or know his days of the week.

With time and therapy, Noe’s mental skills began to return but his TBI symptoms persisted, and were still serious enough that he was scheduled to be relocated to a VA treatment facility in Richmond, Virginia.

Days before Noe was to transfer to Richmond, his therapist cleared him from further TBI treatment using an unorthodox screening process. His therapist, a Boston Red Sox fan, had been teasing Noe – a Brooklyn resident and longtime New York Yankees fan – throughout his rehabilitation. One day, as the long-running argument came to a head, Noe named the entire starting line-up for the Yankees. His newfound recall convinced his therapist that additional therapy for TBI would not be necessary.

For Noe, the initial screening for TBI was a critical milestone in his rehabilitation, which led to a recovery that enables him to focus on physical therapy and his new prosthetic. It also gave his VA health care providers the information to treat him comprehensively.

Not every veteran receives the same screening and treatment, but they should.