T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Preston Hulbert of Conrad has spent the last six plus years recovering from a traumatic brain injury caused by a gunshot wound and recently had surgery to have his plate replaced. He has made steady strides and began working at Theisen’s in Marshalltown last January.

CONRAD — On Jan. 26, 2018, Preston Hulbert’s life changed forever — and very nearly ended.

The Conrad native and BCLUW graduate, who was attending Iowa Central Community College at the time, suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as the result of a gunshot wound and spent the next several years healing, having a plate installed into his head and working to relearn how to do things that once came easily. But the people who love him, especially his mom Sheri, never gave up on Preston, who is now 27, and his perseverance still inspires them to this day.

Back in September, he contracted MRSA and had to have the plate, first installed in August of 2018, replaced by Dr. Andrew Gard in Omaha, but the surgery was performed last month and ended with a successful outcome. Preston is back home and working at Theisen’s in Marshalltown, where he first started at the beginning of 2023, and he said getting a job was the first time he truly felt normal again.

“Finding employment for physically challenged (people) is a little hard, but Theisen’s has been very good to Preston. Rod, the manager, out there, has been very good to Preston,” Sheri said.

Preston, with his trademark self-deprecating sense of humor, joked that he doesn’t know much about gardening, but he’ll be working out in the garden center when he returns to Theisen’s and can’t wait to learn more. Before the injury, he’d been working on a farm near Albion, and he still has dreams of returning to the agriculture field, often explaining what’s going on in a given field while he and his mom drive past it.

“As far as the future, (I’ll just) keep working and trying to get out on my own or something like that, even possibly trying to finish school,” he said.

Despite the tragic and near fatal circumstances that led him to where he is today, Preston hopes he can show others the value of keeping a positive attitude through intense adversity. He also feels an intense sense of pride around the accomplishments of his younger brother Nathan, who is currently serving in the U.S. Army and recently received his expert infantry badge.

Individuals with TBIs often lose their sense of emotion, but Sheri commented that Preston was “a blubbering fool” when they traveled to Georgia for Nathan’s graduation ceremony.

“I was,” he admitted.

Since that fateful day, the Hulberts have received an outpouring of support from the Conrad community and Sheri’s hometown of Marshalltown, and they’ve leaned on family even as her mom passed away last year.

“Every time we post something, everybody’s always (saying) ‘Way to go Preston’ and ‘We’re so proud of you’ and ‘You’ve come so far.’ He enjoys reading all that,” she said. “I believe the support is there still.”

If there’s any advice Preston can share or wisdom he’s gleaned from the experience, it’s to avoid falling into “a depression hole.”

“It was tough (early on), but I knew that if I did go that way, I would never get out of it. So I try to stay out of it… You have to (keep a positive attitude) going through something like this. Plus, that one wouldn’t let me,” he said, pointing to his mom. “She would’ve whooped my (butt).”

There were trying days at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital and even times when both mother and son wondered if he’d end up in a nursing home in his early 20s. But he fought through it, did his physical therapy and came out a better and stronger man in the process.

Sheri reflected on the encouragement she received from a woman whose son had suffered a TBI and faced similar challenges.

“She offered me some pretty good wisdom and some good light on some things, you know. It’s like ‘Tomorrow’s a new day. You had a bad day? Tomorrow’s a new day.’ So I try to carry that along with us when, maybe, days aren’t that great,” Sheri said. “I’m not saying we don’t still have our bad days, but the good ones outweigh the bad ones. Yes, I would love to see him just flourish and get out on his own and get back to the cows and stuff like that, but it’s just gonna take time. And we’ve still got plenty of time. He’s a young man, he’s healthy and he’s got a lot to offer.”

And they can both agree that the recovery will always be a marathon, not a sprint.

“You can’t rush anything because you won’t get anywhere or make it worse,” Preston said.

——

Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.