On a Friday night in 1994 Philip Maestas' life came to a standstill. He was driving home at the end of regular day, when his car hit some debris and spun out of control. Philip was thrown onto the road and sustained a traumatic brain injury.

Philip was in a coma for more than two months, and he did not recover his memory for four months. After three months at the San Jose Medical Center, he moved to Valley Medical Center's Traumatic Brain Injury Unit. This six month recovery period was long and painful.

When it was time for him to go home, Phil was in a wheelchair with complete loss of sensation on one side of his body and severe memory loss. He was completely dependent on his mother, incapable of working, and consumed with bitterness and anger. When asked to describe his personal state after the accident, Phil's reflections are extremely negative.

Fortunately, Phil learned about SVILC and began therapy in the Counseling Department. The counseling sessions motivated Phil to strive for more independence, and he requested a place at SVILC's Transitional Living Center (TLC). The TLC provided newly disabled individuals with the independent living skills training required to transition from dependence to living on one's own. In 1997, Phil successfully completed the eight-month program at the TLC and moved into his own apartment. With tears in his eyes, Phil recounts the joy he felt at living independently again.

Continued physical therapy and adaptive physical education enabled Phil to gradually start walking again. He enrolled in West Valley College for computer, reading comprehension, and speech classes. Today, Philip wishes to use his prior expertise in landscaping and his newly acquired computer skills to design landscapes. Phil's children spend their weekends with him, and he feels the most fulfilling part of being a father is the feeling of being needed again. Phil says that SVILC has been a major factor in his path toward independence. "I wouldn't be where I am today without SVILC."