After Brain Injury, Local Man Uses Art to Inspire Others

BJ Smith

(KLFY) – An Acadiana man who suffered a catastrophic brain injury after an ATV accident is helping others through art.

” I’ve tried a lot of different things. a place to plug my energy. this seemed to work the best,” said 29-year-old BJ Smith. He painted hundreds of pieces of art.

It’s a craft he discovered after the incident. Smith was 15 when the crash happened. He wasn’t wearing a helmet when the teen was thrown from the vehicle.

He spent three months in a coma and underwent several surgeries.

“BJ is my only child. All the hopes and dreams we encouraged in him and we had for him, I knew instantly that was over,” his mother Kim Smith, said. It was just going to be a new life.” CONTINUE