Scott Vampola doesn’t remember much from the day it happened. He had been lying in bed one evening in late January on what seemed like a normal night, but that’s as far as his memory extends that day. Almost a week later, he opened his eyes for the first time in days in a room at Lincoln’s Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.
As he took in his new surroundings, he didn’t know what had happened, how he had gotten there or how much time had passed, but he quickly realized he couldn’t speak or properly move parts of his body. Lincoln Southwest High School physical education teacher Scott Vampola was able to return to school in August after months of physical and speech therapy at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital for a non-traumatic brain injury. Vampola would later learn that despite having no prior health conditions, his blood sugar had suddenly dropped significantly, causing him to have multiple seizures that deprived his brain of oxygen for long enough to lead to a non-traumatic brain injury.
He was in a coma for nearly a week after he was found unresponsive by his oldest son. Then, he had been transferred from Bryan Medical Center to Madonna shortly before he woke up again. But Vampola doesn’t remember any of that — he only knows because he was told by his family and doctors.
He doesn’t remember the minutes before he became unconscious or the ride to the hospital. Even the moments after he regained consciousness are hazy. What Vampola does remember, however, are t.
