Freshman journalism major Julie Brown slept peacefully in the passenger seat of the car on Easter morning as she and her brother, junior Kevin Brown, neared Gilroy, Calif., on the 101 Freeway en route to their Cupertino home for the holiday. She later woke up confused and in pain in the ICU of the San Jose Regional Medical Center.

Brown sustained two fractured femurs and a fractured neck at one of her vertebrae after the truck her brother had been driving blew a tire and flipped.

Although her vertebrae separated two millimeters, she suffered no paralysis or brain or spinal cord damage. Brown underwent facial plastic surgery for minor injuries and
surgery to place stabilizing rods in both of her femurs, which should enable her to walk and run after a full recovery.

Brown has been living with a Halo device since April 6.

“The halo is a 10-pound system, comprised of a plastic vest with attached metal hardware supporting my head and neck,” Brown said. “It keeps my neck locked in a fully upright position so it can heal correctly.”

The Halo Apparatus extends the neck, making it impossible for Brown to move her neck or swallow normally. Even though the device is necessary for healing, it does have its dangers. Because of the positioning, Brown is constantly in danger of choking.

With the halo in place, Brown’s neck healed faster, but there was concern over the progression of her legs.

Although the accident was life changing, Brown said she makes it an ultimate bonding experience with God.

“I’m constantly faced with the fact that the only way I can be sustained day to day is through the mercy of Jesus,” she said. “The little improvements show me that God’s strength is what ultimately shines through. Though this has been an excruciating experience physically and mentally, I would rather be here forced to find my strength in Christ than doing anything else passively.”

By April 10, Brown was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital, where the doctors set up a plan for recovery. Within Brown’s first therapy session, she stood up twice. Three days later, Brown could walk on her own. Brown is continuing her progression towards a complete recovery in the rehabilitation clinic.

Brown’s brother created a Facebook group Prayer for Julie Brown and regularly updates its nearly 1,500 members on Julie’s recovery. The overwhelming response to the group has helped in Brown’s physical as well as emotional healing. Students and faculty can continue to follow Brown’s improvements through the group’s page.

Brown’s spiritual and mental strength has become clear to those who come in contact with her, whether personally or electronically, as she perseveres through her healing, said Brown’s brother.

“Her doctors have been extremely impressed with her maturity and willingness to work at her therapy during this long process of recovery,” Brown’s brother wrote. “Each rehab session is exhausting, and rest becomes necessary between sessions and at night for her to continue this rigorous schedule.”

“This experience has given us an enormous amount of love and respect for our daughter, and it has been an extremely obvious display of God’s power to heal as we can see he wants her to recover with each day’s progress and improvement,” wrote John and Barbara Brown. “He is the one enabling and strengthening in all she accomplishes in this process of recovery.

As Brown progresses, she prays that she’ll continue to persevere both in,
“physical and mental strength not of my own to make it through the minute, hour and day,” she said. “Ultimately, I’m praying for reality to set in a way that God’s glory is the only thing that endures.”

Brown expressed her thanks to all who have and continue to support her along her recovery.

“I love hearing and reading the insightful things you all have to say and you’ve helped keep my focus on Jesus, the only person that ultimately matters,” she said.
Brown will wear the Halo for several more weeks while she learns to walk again.

“Obviously improvement brings hope, but setbacks are still very real,” Brown said. “I had to see through the chaos and see that God is sovereign, and repeat to myself, ‘Face the Challenge’ and cling to the promise of his strength, not my own.”