By: Paul Duncan

Things are looking good for Brett Cde Baca. He has a stable tech job in San Francisco, youth, and a strong family. Some of his greatest fulfillment, however, comes from serving others.

Things were looking good for Cde Baca in the summer of 2013 as well. He was beginning his senior year of college and division 3 football at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. The previous season Trinity had gone undefeated, and Brett was named first team all-league. The senior captain had high hopes. During a low-intensity tackling drill in the first contact practice of the season something went wrong. “I’d been stunned before, but this time was different. Nothing felt out of the ordinary, but nothing felt right.” Brett was diagnosed with a concussion. His prescription: minimal activity, physical or mental. Brett would not practice or attend class. To rest his brain, he sometimes sat in his room alone in the dark. Just as Brett was on the cusp of recovering, his symptoms returned. They didn’t go away again. After he missed 4 of 5 weeks of class, Brett’s parents paid a visit to their struggling son. They saw how deeply he was affected by his injury and urged him to make a plan to deal with the situation. Brett realized he needed a change. “I looked at my parents and said, ‘I’ve never given up on anything, but I need to go home.’ ”

Returning to San Francisco, the Cde Baca family decided to seek alternate treatments for Brett’s brain. “My full time job would be recovering from this concussion and getting my life back to where it was.” He began a regimen of chiropractic neurology treatment, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and a strict diet. It worked. Brett noticed his condition improving after only a few days and gradually improved through the winter. Brett was able to re-enroll for spring semester and graduate.

During his time at home, Brett and his family decided to share their story and successes with other athletes dealing with traumatic brain injury. They began One Hit Away Foundation, “to provide education, support and resources for healing sports-related brain injuries and concussions.” Helping others has transformed how Brett views his experience with brain injury. “I got this concussion only to start this foundation and help people and to pull them out of that dark hole that I know so well.”