Tori & LeeAnn Erwine

Tori Erwine is a young woman who suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury after a suicide attempt when she was 14 years old. Her life started becoming difficult in junior high. Childhood friends drifted off, classes became more difficult, and she was bullied. When her first love broke up with her she was devastated and began secretly drinking. This was too much for her and she spiraled into a deep depression for months. Tori decided to take her own life and hung herself in her backyard. She was blue and had a weak pulse when her sister found her. Tori coded many times as the paramedics resuscitated her. The lack of oxygen caused severe brain damage and left her quadriplegic and unable to speak. Three years later she began using a speech-generating device, but became bored because it was designed for preschoolers. She stopped using it. Tori now has a high-tech speech generating device from PRC-Saltillo, which is making a big difference in her life. She can now say how she feels, express her interests, and use it to strike up conversations. She is even humorous. Finally her world is opening up. As Tori’s mom and advocate, LeeAnn is always looking for ways to enrich’s Tori’s life. She wants her daughter to live the best life possible. Early in the first years after Tori’s injury, LeeAnn posted a video on the internet that showed Tori playing an interactive video game where he could make fireworks explode on a computer screen by moving and blinking her eyes. When the local school board saw the video they became excited at what Tori was able to do with technology. This became the start of LeeAnn and Tori’s journey into the world of speech-generating technology.

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