Tom Segars Benefit
HBO's "COMA" IS LIFE-AFFIRMING
Tom Segars, 34, fell from a second-story balcony two years ago, injuring his head and putting him in a coma for five weeks.
BY LAUREN O.
KIDD
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
BRICK — The little things impress Tom Segars' loved ones the most.
Last weekend, he got up and made a pot of coffee.
"I know it sounds like something so small, but it's huge," said Lynda DeLorenzo, the woman Segars proposed to two months before he fell off the second-floor balcony of his Point Pleasant apartment.
Segars remained in a coma for five weeks, suffering with a traumatic brain injury.
For two years, since he awoke, Segars, now 34, has been working to rehabilitate himself, with De-Lorenzo, now 29, sticking faithfully by his side.
"She is the reason he has come back as far and as quickly as he has," said Segars' mother, Veronica Segars, 55, of Brick. "If there was ever a love story, this is it."
Their story, and the rest of Segars' first year of rehabilitation was captured in the HBO documentary called "Coma." The 101-minute program, directed by Academy Award-nominated Liz Garbus, follows four brain injury survivors during their critical first year of treatment at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison.
Sheila Nevins, president of documentaries at HBO, asked Garbus to look into the phenomenon of coma, the director wrote in an e-mail to the Asbury Park Press.
"In the wake of the Terri Schiavo case, there was so much misinformation about the various disorders of consciousness, that we wanted to probe deeper into that world and show what it is really like," Garbus said.
Garbus said she thinks her documentary shows "the phenomenal commitment of family members to those with brain injury" and "the extraordinarily painstaking process by which these patients are rehabilitated . . . and how that can work well."
"We should only hope all brain injury patients in America were afforded such care," she added.
Segars' father, Herb, 60, said he, his wife, and their future daughter-in-law, agreed to allow Segars to take part in the HBO film because "if we could get Tom's opinion on whether to do this or not, he would have said yes."
DeLorenzo, a financial analyst for Prudential Financial in Newark, concurred: "Tom is the type of person who always wants to help others."
She said she hoped the documentary would shed more light on what happens when someone awakens from a coma. Some people think that such patients immediately regain the ability to function, talk and walk, DeLorenzo said. But there is a lot more to it, she said.
"We hoped that we could make it easier for another family to get through this," Herb Segars said. "If it helps one family it would be worth everything we went through."
Tammy Pindulic, a clinical social worker at Shore Rehabilitation Institute at Ocean Medical Center in Brick, has been working with Segars for about six months. He spends three days a week attending speech therapy and physical therapy sessions at the medical center.
"It was amazing for me to see where he was to where he is now," Pindulic said after watching the documentary.
At first, doctors weren't certain Segars would even survive the fall. Now, he is walking with the aid of a walker, speaking, though not as fluently as before the accident, and sometimes initiates social interactions.
Segars is also back at work, spending a few mornings a week working for his father's company. He even tried kayaking for the first time.
Segars has made "excellent progress" in the areas of strength, balance and coordination, said Dr. Allen Khademi, medical director for Shore Rehabilitation Institute. Khademi said Segars' biggest challenge is reintroducing himself into the community.
But Khademi said rehabilitation does not happen overnight.
"It is two years after his injury, and he is still making nice progress," Khademi said.
The Segars remain optimistic about their only child's future.
"It could never be fast enough for us, but we are absolutely amazed at how far he has come," said Veronica Segars.
"Everything that Tom does amazes me, and every time I see the Tom I know it just makes me happier and happier," Herb Segars said.
Before Segars fell from the balcony on July 30, 2005, he was a sales manager for his father's fiberglass company, preparing to take over the company, once his father retired, DeLorenzo said. He was involved in sports — snowboarding, surfing, bodyboarding, golf and scuba diving, his mother said. And he was "an incredible people person," his father said.
Segars' determination and fitness have helped him in the rehabilitation process, according to Jennifer Aronson, his physical therapist.
Last week, Segars spent more than an hour with his speech therapist, Sunshyne Darcy. Darcy spread six cards on a table, and told Segars to "study up." Then she took two away, and asked him which cards were missing.
"Egg. Door," he answered correctly.
They played the game again, and this time she took away three cards. When Segars couldn't remember them, Darcy prodded him with hints and questions to get him thinking.
"Something in the kitchen that I don't like to wash," she said.
"Blender," Segars responded. Then Darcy and DeLorenzo laughed with him before Darcy led him to the real answer, "plate."
When Segars started working with Darcy six months ago, they used two cards. But if it were up to him, Darcy said, they would be up to 12 already.
"Tom is always ready for what's next," she said.
What is up next for Segars and DeLorenzo is their wedding day. The couple, who met 5 1/2 years ago through a mutual friend, recently moved out of his parents' home and into their own condo in Marlboro. They have set a May 30 wedding date.
"Lynda has said from day one that she believes with all her heart that he is going to come back to her, and he is proving it," Veronica Segars, Tom Segars' mom, said.
To find a schedule when "Coma" is aired on HBO, go to the Web site at www.hbo.com/docs/programs/coma/index.html and click on the link for "schedule."
Tickets: $25.00
Tom will be available for a meet and greet after each show
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