Second annual Eastern Iowa Brain Injury Gala crushes its own Record

In its inaugural year, the first Eastern Iowa Brain Injury Gala was the highest grossing individual fundraising event for the Brain Injury Association of America, nationwide. Recently, the event smashed its own record.

One in four Iowans have experienced a Brain Injury at some point in their lifetime, according to 2024 Iowa Department of Health and Human Services statistics. (https://hhs.iowa.gov/media/15032/download?inline.)

On March 4, 2012, I became one of these statistics.

I suffered my brain Injury as a result of a car accident. As difficult as it was, the medical recovery turned out to be the easiest part of my journey. Far more difficult, was the emotional, professional and psychological recoveries. The human brain is an awe-inspiring machine. The very last one you want to in any way damage. It controls everything that makes us human.

Numerous brain injury survivors experience permanent side effects. Effects such as personality changes, cognitive problems and memory loss. After my own Traumatic Brain Injury, I struggled with situational depression. I often felt as though my life was over.

During my recovery at the On With Life Brain Injury Rehabilitation clinics, something always gave me hope; pulled me out of the dark place I often found myself slipping into. I was hearing the stories of other brain injury survivors. This is why I later decided to become a professional speaker. I wanted to help others with my story, the way other people had encouraged me with theirs.

In 2024, I gave the opening day keynote address to the Minnesota Brain Injury Association chapter. This speech was well received. In the months afterward, I received an email invitation, asking if I was willing to be one of the first participants of the Brain Injury Association of America’s individual fundraising website initiative. Immediately seeing the potential, I enthusiastically agreed to be a part of the launch.

Our first year, we rose to the top from the very start. While it’s gratifying, it also reveals that the cause of brain injury doesn’t get the attention and support it deserves. So many communities are affected. Veterans, athletes and stroke survivors are some of the largest populations. As I have shared my history with people, I’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer number of individuals who have privately shared with me their own connection. Whether personal or through a relative.

This ultimately is the goal of my fundraising efforts. I want to be that person who connects the dots. Connects the dots that tie tens of thousands of Iowans, and Americans in general, together with a common struggle to overcome. The work of the Brain Injury Association of America helps fund research into memory loss and other long-term effects of Traumatic Brain Injury. And it funds support for caregivers and others on the front lines of this silent epidemic. In 2024 we set a record. This year we broke our own record. In 2026. The sky’s the limit.

Danielle Brazant is the organizer and founder of the Eastern Iowa Brain Injury Gala/Benefit. This year, it was held at Indian Creek Country Club in Marion.