‘Samantha Palumbo, 16, had her future mapped out. Then came the car crash — and damage to her brain that doctors said was ‘not compatible with life.’ But they didn’t know Sami.’

‘A teenage girl, a terrible injury and a will to recover’

Lengthy feature in the Los Angeles Times about teenager Samantha Palumbo, a former beauty queen whose doctors doubted she could recover from traumatic brain injury. A reporter and photographer follow her through surgery and rehab, culminating in Samantha’s appearance at her high school senior prom and graduation.

There’s a lot of description here, and the reader is served all the traditional elements of the disability story: strong-willed girl, tragic twist of fate, disbelieving doctors, courageous and faithful family, indomitable will, triumph over adversity. Unfortunately, the whole exercise is just a front-page gawkfest. What’s the significance of these events? Who knows? We’re left wishing for a complex, nuanced examination of the limits of medical care and scientific knowledge about the human brain, discussed within the context of the Terri Schiavo case and the national right-to-die debate. No such luck.

With many photos.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 26th, 2007 at 8:09 pm and is filed under brain damage, chronic illness, personal stories, success stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.