Chris Roell TBI Foundation Fund

Christopher W. Roell was born on June 14th, 1993 in Mentor, Ohio. Christopher started playingsoccer when he was just 3 years old. Christopher developed his passion for soccer while attendingpractice with his older brother Bernie. According to Christopher “he was born to play soccer” anddevoted all of his free time to it. With all the hard work and determination he put in, Chris wasaccepted to a D1 Soccer program: University of California - Santa Barbara. Unlike many others,Christopher was invited to dress for games and saw playing time as a D1 freshman. His dreams ofworking his way to becoming a professional soccer player were coming true and his family wasvery proud.On February 17th, 2012 a devastating accident changed Christopher’s path forever.Christopher fell 40’ at ‘The Bluffs Beach Trail’ and sustained serious injuries. Being one of thefew to survive the fall, he was rushed to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital where he was placed intoa medically induced coma. During this time it was determined that Christopher had suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI)during his fall. After a week of being in the hospital, Christopher was awoken from his coma where he began his 6 weekrecovery at the hospital.With the same hard work, determination and drive Christopher used to achieve his first goal, he worked hard andmade a remarkable recovery that even shocked the hospital staff. From the perspective of the medical staff, he wasexpected to make a full recovery. With this news our family was hopeful, but we soon came to find out that there wasmuch to learn regarding TBI’s. Once Christoper returned home, he quickly wanted to return to a ‘normal’ life. Christophertook the summer to recover. He enrolled into a local community college so he could focus on returning to a full-timeuniversity. Christopher's new path led him in the same footsteps as his older brother Bernie III and he was enrolled atBloomsburg University.Over the next few years Christopher’s TBI started to win the war he was battling with himself daily. As a familywe tried to provide love, counseling, and medical support to assist how we could with this mental health, but part of thebattle was getting him to understand that he needed the help.Tragically on February 17th, 2018 we unexpectedly lost Christopher after 6 years of him battling the injuries fromhis TBI diagnosis. Chris left behind a loving mother: Jennifer Roell, Father: Bernard Roell Jr, Brother: Bernard Roell III,Sister: Sarah Roell and many other loved ones. Christopher spent 24 years of his life chasing his dreams and being ahelping hand to those that were around him. He would always say “it takes mind over matter to achieve your dreams”.After Christopher's passing, our family thought there was no better way to honor his memory than helping othersjust as he did throughout his life. The Chris Roell TBI foundation was started in 2018 to help raise awareness of TraumaticBrain Injuries and provide medical financial assistance to families suffering from TBI’s. Our foundation has raised$18,000.00 so far in support of TBIs and all proceeds from our Starbrick Music Festival will go towards efforts in makingan impact for mental health and TBI research.Christopher holds a very special place in our hearts and our family would love for everyone to share in his lovefor others. Thank you to all who have already supported our cause and those who continue to support our loving son andothers suffering from TBIs!

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