City: Greendale

Brain Injury: I almost died, (from what we have gathered, on the morning of October 22, 2014, Samantha was at home getting dressed to go to work we believe she fell and hit her head on the corner of a wood table. (She did have drugs in her system that we were told caused bleeding on the brain.)

Explanation of Mask: The colors represent being beautiful but scared, afraid but resilient and a fierce warrior that continues to fight against all the odds. The color paint around the eyes symbolizes how Sam is a fighter and she survived despite facing death more than once. The X’s across the eyes represent her now being blind. ) I have a cane now (she is now blind because her brain swelled, which put pressure on her optic nerves resulting in blindness. So, Sam now walks with a blind cane). The cross on the forehead represents her faith in God and that God kept her alive for a reason. It symbolizes that she is loved, her life matters and means something and she is special. Sam was and always will be a fighter. As she goes through the struggles and hardships of her now everyday life, I tell her “BE STRONG SAM – YOU ARE IN THERE AND YOU KEEP FIGHTING TO COME OUT” and she says to me “I will mom, I am trying hard.”