Asheville Mom Robin Embler Fights for Her Daughter’s Quality of Life
By Meg Hale Brunton
This article is not meant to treat, cure, or mitigate any disease, condition, or injury. This is simply a true journey of successful applications applied with undeniable victorious results, thus far.
22-year-old Victoria Faith McNabb was an honors student with a winning smile and a passion for music. She played classical piano and adored ‘The Phantom of the Opera.’ She was also the mother of a 3-year-old little boy. Eight years ago on May 22nd, Victoria was crossing Hendersonville Road (there has since been a crosswalk installed at the location) on her way to meet her mother for dinner when she was struck by an oncoming car going 45+ mph. She was tossed fifty-three feet, many of her front teeth were knocked out, and she suffered a catastrophic brain injury.
“That day, my daughter died, but I still have this broken body. I am so deeply grateful to still have her, but I miss her terribly,” says Victoria’s mother, Robin Embler. That same day, Robin embarked on a mission to fight for her daughter’s quality of life. “This is my journey, as much as it is hers. I tell Victoria, ‘I will speak for you, I will be your voice until you get your voice back. I will do whatever I need to do for you until you can do it yourself.’”
At a very young Robin’s parents divorced and did not have a close relationship with her father. She set out to give her children a different childhood than the one she experienced. At thirty three years of age, Robin freely gave her heart to Jesus Christ and became a Born Again Christian. She began making substantial changes in her life. Robin committed herself to living a healthier lifestyle and became ‘a researcher of wellness.’ Even after Victoria’s accident, Robin remains determined to maintain those values in her daughter’s life.
In the neurotrauma ICU, Victoria’s initial Glasgow Coma Scale (3-15) rating was 6 (severe). Upon hearing of what happened, Victoria’s husband threatened to take her off life support. Although Robin was told Victoria would be a vegetable, never be able to do anything, she knew God was faithful. Immediately, Robin began fighting for legal guardianship from Victoria’s husband and won. She also began researching alternative methods of healing to improve her daughter’s condition. The following thirty-one days there was no change and the hospital took methods to push her out. Victoria was discharged to the CARF (the accredited Care Partners Rehabilitation) for the next eighty-one days. Robin was given the option to either take Victoria home with no support, or to go to a nursing home. Victoria spent 29 horrific months in a nursing home while Robin was present 7-12 hours a day caring for her. “I cannot tell you the buckets of tears and the times I have fallen on my knees, crying out to God to help me,”
Robin continued taking steps to improve her daughter’s care. In the nursing home, Victoria was fed a food supplement through a tube of which the main ingredient was high fructose corn syrup. Though the nursing home disapproved of it, Robin began bringing in homemade smoothies and pureed food for her. Victoria responded well to being fed, and could swallow on her own.
For seventeen months in the nursing home, Victoria suffered from poor care. The administrative staff did not approve of what Robin was doing to help her daughter, and made every effort to remove Robin’s guardianship. After six months of court hearings, the nursing home removed their petition and Robin remained Victoria’s legal guardian.
Six years ago in November, Robin brought Victoria home and became her full-time caregiver. With the approval of Victoria’s health care professionals, she created a comprehensive care plan. She took Victoria off all her medications, replacing them with supplementation, a healthy diet of smoothies and pureed foods, including essential oils, a daily massage, quantum physics, neurofeedback therapy and brainwave-stimulating activities. Victoria also sees a chiropractor twice a week, practices Kinesiology, and has done fifty-two sessions in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. She receives a lot of love and support from her therapy dog, Louie. “The therapies that I’m doing, I know they’ve made a difference,” Robin reports, citing that Victoria’s brain has shown a 52% increase in neuroplasticity since she left the nursing home, which she says is unheard of. She says Victoria has never been sick since leaving the nursing home and that all testing shows her to be emotionally stable, happy and content.
Robin is paying out of pocket for a great deal of Victoria’s care. She has qualified for nonprofit status to receive donations to assist with Victoria’s care. While there are numerous government programs designed to help people who are born with challenges, this is unfortunately not the case for those suffering disabilities due to injury over the age of 22. Robin brings in support staff, as well as periodic visits from medical professionals, but says that it is incredibly hard to find and keep help. “It’s all on my shoulders. I need help. I can’t do the (other) things I need to do; I cannot advocate for her if I don’t have someone consistently caring for her.”
Currently, according to the North Carolina Brain Injury Association (BIANC), there are 280,000 people in NC who suffer a traumatic brain injury each year. Robin says everything she has read from many neurologists who specialize in TBI state the brain is neuroplastic and capable of change. Robin maintains a website and a YouTube channel about Victoria so people can keep up with her progress. She is also considering hosting her own podcast focused on improving the lives of people with traumatic brain injuries. Robin says that she knew when she named her daughter Victoria Faith that her story was going to be incredible. Her daughter’s progress causes her to reflect on the bible passage from Esther 4:14: ‘Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.’ Now at 30, Victoria has progressed on a physical level, as well as a mental one. She colors, does activities with art, and creates music with her keyboards. She can perform some sign language and tries to brush her own hair and teeth. In physical therapy, she is currently working toward full weight bearing and standing. The most special improvement for Robin is when her daughter will turn her head and give her a kiss throughout the day.“I feel I win the lottery every time because I know she’s there,” Robin says of that moment. “I hear often that Victoria is blessed to have me. I am the one that is abundantly blessed to have her.”
For more on Robin and Victoria’s story, or to make a tax-deductible donation, visit their website: www.HelpVictoriaFaith.org