Mom credits speech language pathologist for son's recovery from traumatic brain injury

Jenna Head · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 14, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

Tonya Ruby credits her 27-year-old son's code connection pathologist for the advancement he's made successful his betterment from a traumatic encephalon injury. 

Tyler Templeman was 25 years aged erstwhile a workplace mishap astatine a excavation successful Labrador near him with life-threatening injuries. He was flown to a infirmary successful Quebec, wherever Ruby said doctors planned to spot him successful palliative care. 

"They said helium didn't basal a chance. Basically, helium wanted to, you know, adjacent the book," Ruby told CBC.

Doctors told her Templeman wouldn't respire again. He wouldn't eat. He wouldn't past the surgeries needed to repair his breached bones. They said his encephalon wouldn't beryllium capable to grip it. 

When helium returned to Newfoundland and Labrador, Ruby said doctors wanted to spot him successful semipermanent care. 

"You perceive radical telling stories astir radical who defy the odds, and if there's anybody successful the satellite that I cognize of who can, not conscionable origin he's my son, it's Tyler," Ruby said.

'He is successful there'

Templeman did defy those odds. He present tin devour and breathe. He tin beryllium up. 

Ruby said each time was a combat with the nationalist healthcare strategy but she credits the code connection pathologist helium was assigned to aft his transportation to the Health Sciences Centre with his dependable recovery.

"The lone idiosyncratic that managed to interruption done with Tyler was his SLP astatine the clip connected the floor," Ruby said. "She said 'he is successful there.'"

She re-taught Templeman however to swallow and got him rehabilitation services astatine the Miller Centre aft Ruby said doctors denied his application. 

"The archetypal clip helium swallowed, it went up his nose. That's however incorrect it each was," Ruby said. "She spoke to the antithetic counterparts astatine the Miller Centre, and we got a referral from her."

Since then, Templeman has received attraction astatine the Miller Center each week. He besides goes to the gym, swims, and spends clip with his friends. 

Ruby said helium tin portion a brew with his buddies utilizing a straw due to the fact that of the enactment helium did with an SLP. 

"He's lone a young fella. That's what helium would bash anyway," Ruby said. "If it was not for her, they would person closed the doorway connected Tyler."

More referrals, constricted SLPs

The national representing speech-language pathologists moving for NL Health Services, the Association of Allied Health Professionals (AAHP), is advocating that the state prosecute much SLPs.

Spokesperson Erin Curran told CBC, determination hasn't been an summation successful SLP resources since 2010, contempt referrals astir doubling successful the past 3 to 4 years.

"Our members are being asked to bash much with little everywhere," Curran said. "In agrarian areas, the concern is adjacent worse arsenic they enactment crossed aggregate populations, including pediatric, adult, semipermanent care, inpatient, and outpatient—often with nary further staffing."

Scope of signifier misunderstood

Colleen Kearney is an SLP moving successful backstage signifier successful St. John's. For the archetypal 16 years of her career, she worked for the provincial wellness authority.
 
Kearney believes the state hasn't invested successful SLP services due to the fact that it doesn't recognize an SLP's scope of practice. 

"I deliberation it comes from a deficiency of knowing of what the assemblage does and however overmuch oregon however aggravated the therapy is, and that it's a agelong process for many," she told CBC.

Kearney works with a batch of children successful her practice, but aboriginal involution is cardinal for each patients.

For children, she said, connection improvement issues tin make literacy problems. 

"You can't person learning without bully connection skills," Kearney said.

Also successful her scope of signifier is code dependable production, cognitive communication, and the attraction of feeding and swallowing disorders.

As a backstage clinician, Kearney is advocating for the nationalist strategy to bash better.

"I'm a backstage clinician. Why americium I present talking astir nationalist services? Because it's successful my scope of signifier to beryllium an advocator for radical who person connection impairment and the parents of children who person connection impairment," she said. 

Download our free CBC News app to motion up for propulsion alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to sojourn our landing page.