A North Carolina couple was faced with the ultimate test of love and loyalty when the husband, a former Navy SEAL, suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car crash. His wife became his primary caregiver and biggest champion, leaning on their shared faith for the strength to believe recovery was possible.
Five years on, veteran Jonathan Neal Grant, 41, has made more gains than anyone thought possible.
Jon and his wife, Laura Browning Grant, 38, live in Raleigh with their dog, Kiah. The couple met through online dating in 2008, married four years later, and enjoyed five years of wedded bliss before their lives were upturned in an instant.
In 2017, Jon was a passenger in a massive car accident just two miles from their home.
The Accident
“Jon and a guy he worked with went to dinner after work,” Laura told The Epoch Times, “and on their way back home the driver lost control, the car struck a ditch at high speed, overturned, went airborne, and hit a tree.”Jon was taken to the Level 1 Trauma Center at Raleigh’s WakeMed in critical condition.
“When I received the call, all I was told was my husband was ‘unresponsive,’ and I needed to get to the hospital right away. It felt like eternity until I got to lay eyes on him,” Laura said.
When Laura arrived at the hospital, Jon was in a coma. He had visible injuries: a gash on his nose, a cut over his left eye, and blood in his mouth. Laura was told there were two major bleeds in Jon’s brain, and he needed a bolt placed in his skull to monitor the pressure.
“The first day post-injury I whispered into Jon’s ear that if it was too much, and God’s will, that he didn’t need to hold on for me,” Laura said. “But if he did stay, we would fight together ... by God’s grace, after a handful of days watching the monitors as he laid in a coma, the bolt was removed.”
Doctors had to wait for Jon’s brain swelling to subside before he could be laid flat for an MRI scan. After the scan and a meeting with Jon’s doctors, reality set in for Laura; there were clear signs of brain damage and shearing of Jon’s brain stem, meaning there was a strong chance he would never wake up.
Laura fell apart.
“I rushed out of the meeting,” she said, “my mom was walking down the hall. I lost it. I sobbed and fell into my mom’s arms. To this day, I vividly remember that moment.”
‘Faith Is Everything’
With so many uncertainties, Laura felt out of control. Faith became everything.“It takes full surrender, trust, prayer, and hope to know that God has a bigger plan,” she said. “Faith is everything.”
Laura, who is a Pilates instructor, accompanied her husband through intense physical and cognitive therapies, both at hospital and at home, keeping the spring in her step and the smile on her face even when progress was slow. She drew inspiration from her work in Pilates to manage her own stress and keep her body strong enough to lift Jon’s 200-pound weight, while also helping Jon work his mind and body in symbiosis.
Many families of brain injury patients are told healing will take place six months to a year post-injury, Laura said. It wasn’t until two years post-injury that Jon made gains, and even then, there were setbacks.
Laura said: “Up until a year ago, Jon was very interactive with others and enjoyed doing physical therapy with me. But, the past year has been a struggle. Even though we have seen many doctors, we still have no answers ... we are constantly working through unknowns and praying for answers.”
Today, Jon is entirely dependent upon Laura, his full-time caregiver, advocate, and voice. It’s the couple’s trust and love for each, and Laura’s God-led intuition into Jon’s condition and his needs that is, slowly but surely, leading them toward recovery.
“He has never been a man of many words, but when he did talk it was important to listen,” Laura told The Epoch Times. “Through the consistency of being together every day, and connection on such a deep soul level, Jon and I have a way of communicating, a connection that is hard to put into words.”
Laura describes her husband as a “gentle soul” with “unbelievable willpower,” and just as strong, smart, and devout as he was before his accident. She implores others in her same position to stand strong and steady, insisting that “the best medicine is love.”
Jon continues to heal every day. Laura chooses to see the good in their life circumstance and hopes their story will inspire others. She is grateful that having to think of her spouse before herself has encouraged her out of individualistic thinking, and has made her faith stronger than ever before.
She said, “I would say God has worked through me. He prepared me for this journey, and I am committed to stand by Jon. This journey is nothing I could have ever imagined. God has created each of us in such a beautiful, unique way, and he is able to do the unimaginable if we step back and allow him.
“I have found many times I want to control the situation. But it is in those moments I must surrender and be willing and able to hear and do God’s will.
“I don’t feel God is done with Jon.”
