Dixie Coskie

Events: Life After Brain Injury: Havoc, Hope, and Healing

Book: Unthinkable: A Mother's Tragedy, Terror, and Triumph Through a Child's Traumatic Brain Injury

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On September 6, 2001, a few days before the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Dixie Coskie’s twelve-year-old son Paul was hit by a car while riding his bike and suffered severe trauma to his head. During the early stages after the crash, as Paul lay in a coma, Dixie sought information on traumatic brain injury and a guide to help her through the grief, but did not find such a tool or book.

Her book, Unthinkable, is based on the personal diary she kept while her son lay on a hospital bed and throughout his rehabilitation process. She wrote as circumstances unfolded, confessing her emotions and unspeakable doubts. She reveals not just the arc of her son’s medical condition, but also how she and her family coped, how she used her diary as a life raft to anchor herself, how she pondered her religious beliefs, and ultimately what the family learned through their struggles and heartache. More than an account of a personal journey, Unthinkable offers specific advice for parents/caregivers of children with traumatic brain injury or other serious conditions.

The mother of eight children, Dixie has worked as a teacher’s aide at the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Deaf and at the Kennedy Day School in Brighton, working with emotionally challenged children. She also currently works as a Personal Response Associate for a medical alert company, helping those in need.