John is a Motivational, public speaker and founder of The Bison Foundation and more importantly, he is a TBI Survivor. John is a Graduate of the Northwestern University (1981). Before sustaining a TBI in 2005, John spent over 20 years creating “learning solutions” for many Fortune 100 companies across a wide variety of industries as an Instructional Designer, ranging from a 15-minute self-study or job aid to 3 weeks of in-class training.
Back in 2005 on September 21st John and his son Andrew got away from a horrific car accident.
John is now a keynote speaker for a number of organizations
Here’s what happened.
I was driving Andrew home from his bagpipe practice on 495 South at 9:45 p.m. in our 1988 Volvo 240, a model I am now intensely loyal to. We were going about 65 in the middle lane and out of nowhere, a Mercedes – going over 100 – slammed into us from behind so hard we careened all over the road. . . easily the most terrifying moment of our lives. As I tried to get control of the car I was shouting, “Oh my God! Oh my God!” We ended up in the grassy meridian on the left, the trunk flattened – but we were safe . . . or at least we thought we were safe
After years of struggle and enthusiasm, John found his direction when inspired to become a motivational speaker. Later on, he launched his own book called “You Look Great!”: Strategies for Living Inside a Brain Injury”
John began doing speaking engagements to different audiences on the topic of brain injury. John has been recognized for providing high-quality, informative, and heartfelt presentations with a clear ability to captivate the audience by weaving in his personal TBI story.
He currently serves as a board member for the BIA of Massachusetts and has been a guest lecturer at Boston College’s Graduate School of Social Work, the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions, and Boston University’s Sargent College.
To get a flavor for the book, watch the 6-minute case for brain research his filmmaker son Chris submitted to the 2011 Neuro Film Festival