Page 31 - RU RWJ Medicine Magazine • Winter 2021

A Mother’s Fight for Her Son
After Brain Injury
By Jillian Prior, MPA
Peter Davey (above right) has regained all of his mental and physical abilities one year after undergoing surgery for a severe brain injury, because of his determination and stamina, and also because of the resilience of his mother, Diane (above left).
Peter had been admitted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital—New Brunswick (RWJUH) after a hypoxic brain injury, or lack of oxygen flow to the brain. Neurosurgeons including Gaurav Gupta, MD, associate pro- fessor of neurosurgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, did not think Peter would survive, and even after performing life-saving surgery, it was not clear
that he would be able to regain the ability to walk, talk, read or write.
A year later, Peter has regained all his mental and physical abilities. Dr. Gupta attributes this outcome not only to Peter’s determination and stamina, but also the resilience of his mother, Diane. Dr. Gupta shares, “Peter’s mother demon- strated courage, resilience and faith in her son, and showing how a mother never gives up on her child.”
The first thing Peter Davey remembers after being hospitalized from a severe brain injury is being deeply paranoid. “I didn’t know where I was, or how I got there. I couldn’t speak and I was terrified.”
Robert Wood Johnson | MEDICINE 29