February, 1999

Brain injury survivor making the most of his “second chance”

"I really have no recollection of it . . . I’ve lost all memory of the day before the accident, the day of and two weeks after. It’s a pretty weird feeling."

It was around 3 p.m. on Jan. 21, 1997, and 31-year-old Michael Pasloski of Yorkton was driving to Kamsack to teach piano. The weather wasn’t good.

"According to the newspaper reports afterwards, it was the worst storm on record in 76 years for the province."

Why would he even venture out? Pasloski says he can’t remember. "It must have been OK when I left," he guesses.

About 30 minutes from his destination he was rear-ended by a driver who couldn’t see Pasloski’s car in the blinding snow. Pasloski’s vehicle ended up in the ditch. His injuries were so bad he couldn’t walk or talk. He spent a month in a wheelchair.

Most of Pasloski’s physical injuries have healed, but other injuries haven’t. Pasloski now lives with an acquired brain injury.

"Just because I’ve had a good physical recovery, doesn’t mean I’ve had a good mental recovery," says the father of three young children.

For example, he falls asleep every afternoon ­ whether he wants to or not. "Fatigue is a big part of having a brain injury," Pasloski explains. "People don’t understand that. A brain-injured person has trouble keeping a job and even finding a job."

Pasloski’s brain injury also makes him more susceptible to stress. But despite all the negatives associated with brain injury, Pasloski is a very thankful man. He’s alive, for one thing. And he’s doing far better than a friend of his who sustained a brain injury in a vehicle collision 11 years ago.

"They battled it out for 11 years in the courts," he says. "Meanwhile, his life is completely ruined. The court award came too late for proper rehabilitation."

SGI’s new system of personal injury protection (sometimes referred to as no-fault), replaced the old, court-based system in 1995. Under the new system, injury benefits for persons injured in automobile accidents are almost immediate, as is the necessary treatment.

Pasloski received two months of intensive therapy at Wascana Rehab in Regina, where he learned to walk and talk again. And the income replacement benefits he receives from SGI help sustain his family.

"Basically, SGI’s injury provisions allowed me and my family to survive. That goes without saying."

Pasloski gets angry when he hears the media, lawyers and "victims’ rights" groups criticize SGI’s provisions for people injured in automobile accidents. He thinks the new system is far and away the better program.

"Before, it was like the auto lotto. People would get hit and it would be like a 6-49 ticket . . . It was a pretty sad situation ­ the old system, compared to how it is now."

Pasloski has written a collection of essays about his accident and the daily struggle of living with an acquired brain injury. The collection is entitled "Second Chance." He says he wrote the book to "provide a source of positive reflection for anybody who has acquired a disability, regardless of the cause."

Adds Pasloski, "I have survived an accident that I will never remember. Yet the worst storm had the best outcome. Here I am recovering."

The book is available by writing Michael Pasloski at Box 20014, Yorkton, Sask., S3N 4A9.

For media inquiries only, contact:
Barbara Cross
Manager, Communications
SGI
Regina
(306) 751-1360

For all other inquiries, call 1-800-667-8015.

Back to News Releases