SCOTTSDALE — Two years after a motorcycle crash off Loop 101 left him with a severe traumatic brain injury, Stewart Sparks came back to thank the people who helped him relearn how to live, FOX 10 Phoenix reports.
Sparks crashed in the summer of 2024. “First time I was really without a helmet on, and it hurt me bad,” he said. He woke up in the hospital connected to a feeding tube and began recovering at HonorHealth Rehabilitation Hospital.
“My brain injury was really bad. I saw a picture of me when it first happened, and I was amazed that I was still alive,” Sparks said. “I could not hear out of both ears, I could not see out of this eye.”
He was among several former patients at the hospital’s annual patient reunion near Pima Road and Via de Ventura.
Lauren Kane, a speech therapist with HonorHealth Rehabilitation Hospital, said that when she first met Sparks, “he really didn’t know what was going on. He was very confused and agitated.” She said he was having a hard time speaking and eating.
“I had not eaten since May and this was August 12 when this happened. I missed our anniversary. I missed my daughter’s birthday. I missed a lot of stuff, started getting better,” Sparks said.
“Getting to see someone from right when their injury happened, then two years after the fact, it’s really a rewarding profession to work in,” Kane said.
Sparks still faces challenges but remains on the path to recovery, according to FOX 10.
Sources: FOX 10 Phoenix. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: PTX / CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.
