Big Boss Brain: Learning About Traumatic Brain Injuries
Shannon Maxwell, author of Our Daddy Is Invincible!, is an active and respected advocate for wounded warriors and their families. She grew up in Texas. After graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M; University at the age of twenty, she married her college sweetheart, Tim Maxwell. In 2004, when her husband, LtCol Tim Maxwell, USMC (ret), was wounded with a penetrating traumatic brain injury (TBI) her focus became furthering wounded warrior family initiatives. She currently serves as Vice President of SEMPERMAX Support Fund which she co-founded in 2009, having first co-founded the non-profit organization, Hope For The WarriorsTM in 2006 to address immediate and long-term needs of families recovering from traumatic injuries. In addition, Shannon sits on the Advisory Boards for Thomas Jerome House, Inc., a community home for service members with TBI, and the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program. As an appointed member of the Traumatic Brain Injury Family Caregiver Panel, established through the National Defense Authorization Act of 2007, Section 744, Shannon helped create training curriculum that would educate and assist Family Caregivers in understanding traumatic brain injury and participating actively in the care of their wounded family member. The curriculum was adopted by the Defense Health Board and approved for distribution on April 14, 2010. Shannon has been recognized for her efforts in support of the wounded with the Presidential Call to Service Award and became one of five recipients of the 2007 National Military Family Association s Very Important Patriot Award. Shannon and her husband, Tim, adopted their youngest daughter in 2008. They now reside with their family in Northern Virginia. Their work as advocates for wounded, ill, injured families is ongoing.