Generosity Knows No Age
Bella and friend tabling for Brain Injury Awareness
On June 6th, the Chuck Noll Foundation for Brain Injury Research received a wonderful gift from an extraordinary young person – Bella Stosic. A local teen who took it upon herself to raise awareness at her middle school in March for brain injuries. Her efforts were amazing; raising $5,000 selling brain injury awareness bracelets for $2 a piece. Bella and her family then donated all the money to the Chuck Noll Foundation.
Bella’s gift speaks volumes of the young woman, but her story doesn’t begin with this kindness. It starts on a basketball court over a year ago where she fell after colliding with another player, hitting her head – hard.
Having never lost consciousness, her father took her home, but she soon began stuttering and eventually struggled to speak altogether. She was immediately admitted for three days at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, where no amount of testing and specialized practitioner assessment could pinpoint what was causing her symptoms.
From sports medicine to psychologists, Bella’s verbal condition remained largely the same, as well as the struggle she continued to face walking without support and her sensitivity to light.
Bella Stosic with Chairman Art Rooney
Fast forward a year and Bella’s mother reached out to the Chuck Noll Foundation, looking to find a way to share the money her daughter raised with us. Little did she know she would be receiving much more – the expertise of world renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Joseph Maroon.
After his assessment of Bella, he prescribed hyperbaric treatments and the results have been nothing short of extraordinary – fitting for such an incredible young person.
Bella and her parents with Dr. Joseph Maroon
Bella’s experience with brain injury is exactly why we exist; not just to better assess and treat the athletes who made a career out of their passion for sports, but the children, teens, and adults out there on recreation courts, backyard kickball fields, and under street lights playing sports because they too love the game.
A huge thank you to Bella, and her family, for persisting so tirelessly in the fight for brain injury awareness. We are working to better assess and treat this population, but you know first hand the impact brain injury can have on one life.