The exhibit, featuring Doyle and people like him with brain injuries, coincides with the observance of Brain Injury Awareness Month.
Christopher Doyle of WilbrahamWILBRAHAM - Christopher Doyle, the former town police officer whose career ended in 2006 when he was critically injured by a drunken driver ramming into his police car, will be featured in a State House exhibit calling attention to people with brain injuries.
The exhibit, titled “The Faces of Brain Injury,” opens Monday in the State House’s Doric Hall and will be available for viewing through Friday. It features posters of people such as Doyle who have been afflicted.
It is sponsored by the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts and is timed to coincide with the observance of Brain Injury Awareness Month.
The association is a non-profit organization that supports brain injury survivors and their families, and promotes education and prevention programs.
Doyle said he is happy to be a part of the exhibit.
When he was approached by the association about being part of it, he said he’d do whatever they wanted him to do.
“It’s just another way to get the word out,” he said.
As he has worked to recover from his injury, Doyle has been a frequent volunteer speaker for the association. Often his engagements are before court-ordered programs for people arrested for drunken driving, jails or sobriety programs.
In his talk he typically recounts his story about how his career ended and his life changed with a drunk driver slammed into his parked cruiser at 50 mph in February, 2006. The talk, which he has recorded over two videos, is posted on Youtube.
Doyle suffered several broken bones, a crushed diaphragm, and internal injuries in the crash. While he has recovered from each, he remains disabled because of lasting injuries to his brain.
He had problems with fatigue, anxiety and short-term memory loss.
In an interview with the Republican a year ago, Doyle said he carried a digital tape recorder with him everywhere to record his thoughts before he would forget them.
He said on Friday that he still uses the recorder but not as mush as he used to. He said he has seen some progress but is still affected by his injury and unable to work.
Although excited to be a part of the exhibit, Doyle said he doubts he will be able to make it to Boston to see it.
He and his wife, Kathy, are expecting twins and she is due to deliver this week, he said.
Emily S. Ring with the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts said the exhibit is intended to raise awareness of brain injuries, which she calls “a silent epidemic.”
Brain injuries occur every 23 seconds in the United States, affect people of all ages, and can range from short-term to permanent afflictions, she said. Common causes are sport collisions, accidental falls, car crashes or medical conditions such as stroke.
“The exhibit is about the people who have brain injuries and to try to put faces on it,” she said.