One night seven years ago, John Turner was mugged and nearly beaten to death outside of a bar in Auburn.

Turner was hospitalized for seven months and then completed an intensive two-year rehabilitation. Due to traumatic brain injury (TBI), he had lost the full functional ability of the left side of his body and had to relearn basic human motor skills like walking, writing and speaking.

Turner’s current TBI conditions include slurred speech, weakness and numbness in the extremities and loss of coordination requiring him to walk with cane. Despite this, he works full-time as a reporter for the Skaneateles Journal.