Hundreds of brain injury victims tell their stories through art

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (KMSP) - Hundreds of traumatic brain injury victims are telling their stories and they're doing it without speaking a word.

For the past two months brain injury victims across Minnesota have been creating masks to represent the struggles they face living their lives. On Saturday, they put all of them 308 of the masks on display at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center.

It’s part of a project called “Unmasking brain injury.” Every mask represents a personal story of struggle.

One of the masks is called "Barred from Society." It's creator calls himself Sinbad.  He was hit by a dump truck when he was four years old and has struggled his entire life.

“It's a wonderful gift for all of us to be able to tell about our stories; life changing,” Sinbad said.

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. The Brain Injury Alliance of Minnesota has a goal of collecting a thousand of these masks during the next year to raise awareness of the people struggling with the hidden scars of brain injuries.