Today, we were fortunate enough to attend Project Harmony’s (Omaha, NE) 6th annual “Speaking of Children” event at the Century Link Center with a sellout crowd of 1200.  We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to produce the main video for the event, which tells a story all too familiar.

V2's "A Voice for Tye" playing at the event

Our video tells the story of Tye, who was 6-months-old when he was the victim of child abuse at the hands of his daycare provider.  The similarities between Tye’s story and that of our daughter Alexis are so close that it is almost eerie.  Both of them were abused by women who had been taking care of children for a long period of time and came with impeccable recommendations.  Both providers had abused children in the months leading up to the most serious incident, but other parents at the daycare were unaware it had happened.  And both Tye’s Mom Megan, and my wife Tiffany had intuitive feelings that something “just wasn’t right” in the weeks leading up to the abuse.

It was an absolute pleasure to meet Tye’s parents Megan and T.J.  They are both remarkable parents, whose careers revolve around helping children.

The event today included a speech by boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard, who was speaking publicly for the first time since he revealed in his book “The Big Fight: My Life in and out of the Ring” that he was the victim of sexual abuse twice by coaches when he was a young boxer.  Sugar Ray has shown amazing courage by coming forward and shedding light on an extremely difficult subject.  He hopes it will inspire others to come forward and do the same.

Getting a chance to meet "The Champ"

We enjoyed working on the video and getting to meet some outstanding people at Project Harmony.  Very few cities across the country have a facility that contains every department that is part of a child abuse investigation in the same building.  The communication and cooperation this arrangement fosters between various departments has tremendous benefits, including reducing the stress on children that have suffered abuse and increasing the likelihood of prosecution of perpetrators.

It was a great day, great event and worthwhile project.  We can’t wait to do it again next year!

V2 produced unique spots for each of the Dynamo’s final four home games of the season, a retrospective “Fan Appreciation” video that aired at the season finale, and a promotional advertisement for 2011 season tickets.

One phone call and 36 hours later, the group had the 60 second intro video they needed to lead off their speech. One Turner representative called it a “game-changer” giving them their best shot at earning the bid.

The first is a 20 minute retrospective of the history of pediatric rehabilitation at Madonna.  V2 traveled throughout the Midwest to interview seven former patients and presnt a “where are they now” at the banquet.

The second is a video showcasing construction of the new Alexis Verzal Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital at Madonna.  V2 filmed construction over the last 5 months to show the process from beginning to end.  Lary the Cable Guy, who donated $1.2 million to build the facility through his Git-R-Done Foundation, will be honored with his wife Cara at the event.

V2 produced a 5 minute video for the event that highlights the Git-R-Done Foundation’s charitable works over the last year.

Producers Brandon & Tiffany Verzal have documented their two-year-old daughter Alexis since April 3, 2008, after she suffered a traumatic brain injury, from what authorities believe was shaken baby syndrome. Alexis was injured while at a daycare in College Station, Texas. Alexis was 14-months-old when she was injured, and was a normal functioning and healthy child. The swelling and bleeding in her brain caused permanent and severe brain damage. After 22 days in a Texas hospital, she was transferred to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she has been undergoing intensive therapy since April 28, 2008. Alexis is still recovering physically and cognitively to this day.

Alexis working on standing in Physical Therapy

In February, V2 Content and Madonna joined forces to tell the story of rehabilitation after suffering a brain injury. In addition to following Alexis’ progress, three other patients are being documented as well.

Derek Ruth is a 13-year old who suffered a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) in September of 2008 while playing in a youth football game. Derek underwent emergency surgery and both sides of his skull were removed to let his brain swell without pressuring against his skull. “D” is a tremendous athlete and an excellent student. He attacks each day of therapy as he would a sports competition. What Derek has accomplished is less than a year of recovery is truly a miracle. In May, he was able to walk the last few blocks of the Lincoln Marathon, and he is still going to therapy full-time, five days a week. He will be featured in a nationally published Parade Magazine article in the second week of July.

Derek working with Occupational Therapy

Amanda Kay, 17, from Kansas City, Missouri, spent nearly thirty minutes under freezing cold water in January 2009 after her car veered off the interstate. When the rescue team pulled “Mandy” out, they saw a flicker in her eye, and they were miraculously able to revive her. Without oxygen flowing to her brain, anoxic brain damage occurred. Mandy arrived at Madonna in February on a ventilator, and by April she was walking with assistance. She spent time at an assisted living facility, and has now returned home to Kansas City.

Mandy in physical therapy

Christian Stokes is 28-years-old. An Iraq war veteran, he was injured in a motorcycle accident in Kansas City, Missouri in April of 2009. After fifteen days in a coma, he was transferred to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital. Christian has had a remarkably fast recovery. On April 30, he was unable to walk, but by June he had been completely cleared by his physical therapists. He continues therapy to improve his cognitive skills, but will return home on July 3.

Christian in-patient recovery

Viewers will be taken into the depths of brain injury and the approach of recovery through rehabilitation. The documentary will include comments from family members, therapists, neurosurgeons, and doctors, and will also feature two nationally recognized brain injury advocates.

Lee Woodruff is the wife of ABC News Anchor Bob Woodruff, who suffered a TBI while working in Iraq in 2006. The author of the New York Times Best Seller In An Instant and Perfectly Imperfect, Lee is the founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation and Remind.org, and speaks across the nation about brain injuries and wounded veterans.

Trisha Meili is known to the world as “The Central Park Jogger”. After surviving a brutal attack in 1989, she has spent 20 years living with a TBI, and gives viewers insight as to what it is like to live as a highly functional brain injury survivor. Trisha is the author of the New York Times best seller I am the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility.

Find out more about the documentary:

Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital – www.madonna.org

V2 Content – www.v2content.com

Alexis Verzal
http://www.carepages.com/carepages/AlexisLinn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX6l8_iKNUw
http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/22016329.html (you can see arrest statement on this page)
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10600984
http://s709.photobucket.com/albums/ww97/bverzal/?action=view&current=BeautifulRide2.flv

Derek Ruth
http://www.ketv.com/news/18727868/detail.html (video on the side)
http://www.madonna.org/madonna_experience/success_stories.html
http://www.ketv.com/news/19363175/detail.html?taf=oma (video on the side)
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dereksplace

Amanda ”Mandy” Kaye
http://www.kctv5.com/traffic/18482857/detail.html
http://www.kctv5.com/news/18491524/detail.html

Alexis 3 days after injury

Now, over a year later, we have more knowledge about TBI’s and rehabilitation than we could have ever imagined. Alexis spent almost a month in a Texas hospital, and then the journey of rehabilitation began. We chose Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska for her care. Madonna is one of the leading pediatric rehab hospitals in the United States. They are able to take children from in-patient, and also have out-patient services. Alexis was in-patient for 8-weeks, and then moved into their rehab-day program. When we arrived, Alexis couldn’t hold her head up, walk, talk, she was blind, she could barely swallow food. From May 2008 to February 2009, she participated in almost 5 hours of therapy a day. She gets speech, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and pool therapy. Since February, we’ve backed off to one session of each discipline 5 days a week. However, what happened in between all of the therapy, CT scans, doctor visits and hospital stays is where we are today.

Alexis with Madonna Therapists 1 year after injury

I started shooting 3 days into her injury. Not on my video camera, but on my small still picture camera. We all questioned why I was doing this- but I figured if she made a recovery, I wanted her to see where she started from. We posted some of the videos on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX6l8_iKNUw and the rest is history. We moved from College Station, Texas to Lincoln, Nebraska in June of 2008 and my husband and I started our video production company called V2 Content. In January 2009 we were hired by Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital to produce a documentary about brain injuries, with Alexis being the main subject.

v2 Content documents Occupational Therapy

We have shot most of the documentary in High Definition. Some of the early video will be from our consumer-based equipment. We have over 10 hours of interviews, including an interview with Lee Woodruff http://leewoodruff.com/. In two weeks, we will fly to New York City to interview Trisha Meili, http://www.centralparkjogger.com/ whom most of you know as the Central Park Jogger. The documentary (yet to be named) will be a story of hope, a story of determination, a story about the triumphs and difficulties when rehabbing from a traumatic brain injury. The documentary will be shown this fall in Lincoln, Nebraska in correspondence with the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital Goal Awards. Over the next few weeks, we will introduce our subjects and continue to update the progress.