Ernie Irvan knows first-hand how a traumatic brain injury can disrupt a life and a career. He also knows many of them are preventable, which is the message the former NASCAR driver brought to Indianapolis on Wednesday as keynote speaker at the Brain Injury Association of Indiana annual conference. Irvan, 48, suffered a life-threatening brain injury when he crashed at Michigan International Speedway in 1994. He defied the odds to return to racing but was forced to retire in 1999 after another hard hit in virtually the same place on the same racetrack. He has spent much of his time since trying to raise awareness about traumatic brain injuries, which each year afflict 1.5 million Americans and result in more than 50,000 deaths. He started the Race2Safety Foundation and speaks to a half-dozen groups a year.(see full story at the Indianapolis Star)(10-11-2007)
