SEVENTEEN AND TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

Written by William E. Spear
For The Three Fifty-seven

Hello. This is The Three Fifty-seven and my name is William Spear.

Today’s article, SEVENTEEN AND TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, is a preview of the series Seventeen which continues and concludes in March. It is also background on the series and the circumstance, a friend’s Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), that inspired it.

The series SEVENTEEN premiered in March of 2023. With a tagline of “He’s dying to forget. She lives to remember.”, the four episodes introduced Severin Vincent Tennyson, a non-verbal and cane-using janitor at Gunderson High School in central New Jersey. Nicknamed Tenny, the cause of his non-verbal status and usage of a cane is not revealed in the first four episodes.

The first episode began with Tenny sweeping the basketball floor in the auditorium and newly hired Superintendent Mills di Stefano enters. He does not recognize her but a memory from decades earlier is re-awakened. To the surprise of everyone, he runs out screaming “Seventeen!” The four episodes in March of 2024 continue immediately after Tenny’s energetic display and will bring the series to an end.

The inspiration for the series was a friend impacted by Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). While leaning in with famiy and others to support the recovery, the power and frailty of the brain became apparent. On one level, the human brain is a powerful organ capable of composing symphonies, performing mathematical calculations, or writing a story.

On another level, it is tremendously fragile. A single wrong knock or bump and it could be like a pinball machine going TILT.

During the recovery, I promised to write a story. It was started several times and progress was shared. After more than five years, the central character, Severin Vincent Tennyson aka Tenny, presented himself. Of humorous note, TBI is the only common characteristic between Tenny and my friend.

After two more years and in March of 2023, the first four episodes of SEVENTEEN were released. A year after that and throughout March of 2024, the last four episodes of SEVENTEEN will be completed and released. Until then, the following is a modest excerpt of what lies ahead:

Excerpt of SEVENTEEN, Episode Five - The Clenched Fist
 
Two floors into the basement at Gunderson High School in central New Jersey, Severin Vincent Tennyson, nicknamed Tenny, slammed his head into a locker. Over and over.
 
His shirt was covered with blood.
 
No matter how hard he hit his head against the locker, he could no longer forget. People, places, and memories came screaming back. He slammed one more time and let loose an terrified “NOOOO!”
 
From behind him a voice spoke: “Tenny.”
 
He did not want this to happen. He knew the voice was inside his head and did not look. It spoke again: “Tenny.”
 
When the hand touched his shoulder, he screamed and spun around.

The next episode of SEVENTEEN is scheduled for Tuesday 5 March with subsequent releases for each Tuesday of the month. Full transcript and audio be here. Podcasts only will be available through most streaming services.

For fullest background, the previous four episodes may be found here:

SEVENTEEN, Episode One – Tenny

SEVENTEEN, Episode Two – Who Said That?

SEVENTEEN, Episode Three – Forget

SEVENTEEN, Episode Four – Champions

SEVENTEEN was written and narrated by William Spear. It is produced by The Three Fifty-seven.

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WESJr

New Jersey, United States of America