Curtis Neeley was once a professional commercial photographer. Now, he is a professional nothing! He says it is much easier to be the later. He 'retired' early in a manner of speaking.

      He was trying to save money by driving a tiny Metro to work? One morning on the way home from work, Curtis Neeley had a full speed head-on collision. He and his car were squished. All the bones were broken below his knee in both legs; his left leg's femur was destroyed; his pelvis was broken in six places; his left arm's bone from elbow to shoulder was destroyed; his left shoulder was broken; five back bones were broken; the descending aorta from his heart was torn open. Curtis had a stroke during the recovery of surgery to repair the aorta, clamping the blood vessels off to repair his aorta caused him to be roughly mid-back paralyzed. Curtis' stroke ruined the use of his left arm.

  Due to his severe brain injury, he lost most of his memories. His frontal lobe's brain damage causes him to be more self-centered and very blunt. He also has very little tact. At least he had a great self to get centered around. He delivered his daughter at home with a midwife. Now he only recognizes her. He has no memories of his daughter, his first wife, or his oldest son that survived his brain injury. His oldest two children lived with him, until the car wreck. Now they live with their mother. He rarely ever sees them. Having no memories of them makes that bearable? Compared to his severe physical disabilities, Curtis' severe TBI is what Curtis would call his most severe disability.

    Curtis has very little inhibitions. His initial medical bills were around 1.3 million dollars and he was on life support with a respirator and feeding tube for six weeks. Curtis had previously told his wife that living via machine was not his wish. The doctors said that he would expire if taken off life support. Curtis was not brain dead. They said that if he didn't die he would at best have the mentality of a toddler.

    His wife had the respirator turned off. Curtis' brother was holding his hand as he was left to die, and felt a squeeze. His brother kept telling him to breathe. He did, but only barely. His brother told the doctors that he had squeezed his hand and was struggling to breathe. His brother was then told that it was normal for a person to contract various muscles as they expired. His brother insisted that a doctor examine Curtis closer. The doctor came and asked him to respond to a verbal command. The doctor asked Curtis to give him 'a thumbs up', and he did.

    They were totally amazed and went to the hospital chapel and informed his wife who was there mourning his impending death. She had them return life support as needed for a few weeks. Curtis Neeley very gradually became aware and conscious. Many say he will never be fully aware of his surroundings and we feel nobody ever is.

    You will find the vast majority of his photos here on this web site. Here is a link to a spot where you can see all his old photos we have found. Here you can see everything from his first wife, to his high school prom photos. These are the only memories of these events that remain for him. Good thing he left lots of evidence? The Curtis that is alive today is a different person in the body of the Curtis who died in 2002. He shares much of Old Curtis' love for art and some of the skills.