Famous Surfer Walks again after Traumatic Brain Injury

by Erin Lehn

In November 2019, renowned Florida surfer Sterling Spencer was hit on the head by his surfboard. He didn’t think much about it, as it’s a common injury for surfers. The following month, his physical mobility became somewhat limited. In February 2020, he noticed that his mental strength was deteriorating. In March, doctors told him he was depressed and prescribed Xanax. Six months after the cut on the head, which was not severe, had long been forgotten, Spencer couldn’t walk.

He wondered, “Does depression cause disability?” His family thought he might have a severe case of Covid. His friends legitimately thought he was pranking them because he used to be a funny guy.

In August, a therapist advised Spencer to get another opinion as it was clear his issue was not depression. In October 2020, a doctor finally recognized that Spencer had a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and post-concussion syndrome. He was referred to Dr. J. Douglas Brown, DC, DACNB, owner of the Mind Performance Center in Foley, Alabama.

After 18 months of not knowing if he would survive, Spencer had someone in his corner to assure him that he could recover. “Dr. Doug was the first person to understand what I’m going through,” says Spencer, who was extremely frustrated because he couldn’t function and people didn’t understand that his brain was not working. “It was like being a 3-year-old. I had to relearn the alphabet.”

Brown explained to him that people likely would not understand. TBI is invisible and difficult for others to grasp. After all, those injured look the same but can’t think the same.

Brown put Spencer through the TBI treatment, which Spencer admits was the hardest thing he’s ever done. But after six weeks, he went from being unable to walk to standing up on a surfboard. The treatment works.

“Sterling was a typical brain injury patient, but his case was severe. He was barely able to walk. His problems were very complex because he had damage to the part of the brain that controls movement and to the frontal lobe, which made it almost impossible for him to function,” says Brown. “In our brain, we are constantly creating maps of where our body is in space. If those maps fail, we must recreate them to balance and move properly.”

Brown specializes in deep transcranial magnetic stimulation, brain metabolic enhancement and brain performance. He utilizes functional medicine and various therapeutic exercises to correct brain pathway imbalances. By correcting pathways, patients with TBI get more vital and experience a restored quality of life. He also treats severe depression and dementia, Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and learning disabilities for children and adults.

Location: 112 West Section Ave, Foley, AL 36535. 251-732-5502. MindPerformanceCenter.com. See ad, page 9.