Our Blog: where do you stand?

A Night at the Game

By: Susan Iskiwitch | 02/15/2008

On Tuesday night, I was lucky enough to attend the St. Louis Blues game against the Los Angeles Kings (my thanks to the St. Louis RCGA and Cathy for the tickets). That night also was the Traumatic Brain Injury Night at the game.

Sean Glanvill, a 13 year old hockey player for the AAA Amateur Blues, was in a car accident last spring that left him with a traumatic brain injury. Sean was given only a one percent chance of survival, but 8 months later, he's still fighting; and so is his family. His parents, Derek and Penny Glanvill, established the Sean Glanvill Traumatic Brain Injury Research Fund.

The fund was established by Sean's family to promote awareness of traumatic brain injuries and for the advancement of research, funding for equipment and facilities or simply the care and financial assistance to families affected by traumatic brain injury.

The Glanvill family is using social media and word of mouth marketing to get their mission across. Wearing Sean t-shirts and rubber bracelets, the stadium was populated with volunteers raising awareness and funds for the organization. With a video presentation of Sean's story on the jumbotron and all of the volunteers, it was nearly impossible for game attendees to leave without understanding the Glanvills' mission.

The Glanvills are also making use of blogging. Derek maintains a CarePage (CarePages is a community of free websites created by patients and families so they can share information, photos and support), containing over 900 entries, 7,000 subscribers to the page and 6,300 words of support (comments). Between television and radio stories about Sean and these other forms of communication, the Research Fund has raised tremendous funds and awareness. To visit Sean's Care Page, register at CarePages.com and visit member SeanGlanvill.

Here's to Sean Glanvill and his recovery and the various outlets that help get his message across!

Oh yeah, the Blues beat the Kings that night 4-2; their first win after four losses.

Posted in Where We Stand, Social Media, Digital Communications