Wildwood family shares son’s traumatic brain injury journey on TikTok

WILDWOOD, Mo. — A Wildwood family is touching the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across the country. They’ve gone viral sharing the resilient story of their son, who is living with a traumatic brain injury. 

Aaron and Brenda Luter started sharing videos on TikTok as a way to keep their family and friends updated on their son, Josh’s, recovery after a serious motorcycle accident changed his life forever. 

Now, four years and over 400,000 followers later, the account, “Joshluter 2.0,” has turned into a place to not only raise awareness but spread hope. Josh’s resiliency and smile has captured the heart of thousands online. 

Back on April 11, 2021, Josh was just 19 years old studying to be a pilot at SIU Carbondale when he got into an accident.

“He was out on a Sunday afternoon on his motorcycle with a buddy, taking a ride and a person driving a SUV turned in front of him, and he really didn’t have a chance to avoid the accident,” Aaron said. 

Josh’s parents described the accident as “violent.” First responders took him to Carbondale Hospital, but he was quickly flown to Barnes in St. Louis because of the severity of his injuries.

“He had multiple broken bones, lacerations, ruptured organs, he had a punctured lung, but worst of all he had a very severe traumatic brain injury. We really didn’t know his condition, what his condition would be other than, at best, it was going to be a really long recovery,” Aaron said. 

The extensive injuries left Josh without the ability to walk and talk, and his parents with more questions than answers. After 10 months in the hospital, Brenda said it was time to bring “the new Josh” home.

“It affected our entire family, there’s no doubt, everything has changed. It’s not anything I would wish on anybody. It’s a really hard situation to deal with, to lose one child and get a different one,” she said. 

That resilient characteristic of Josh is something that’s clear he inherited from his parents. The Luters transformed their home to give Josh the best life they can. Brenda said family, friends and their faith is what gets them through each day. 

“There’s so many times we’re like, ‘We can’t do this, how are we doing this? How can we get through this?’ And you really just have to take one step at a time, not worry about tomorrow and just keep your faith,” she said. 

It’s that faith that can now be seen by hundreds of thousands across the country. The Luter’s posting on TikTok and showing the world what life is like for Josh. Aaron said the idea behind their account began out of desperation.

“People wanted to know what was happening with Josh and we needed more information about it too because traumatic brain injuries really aren’t that uncommon, so to speak of, but they’re really not talked about. There’s not that much information out there about a recovery and what it looks like, and everybody’s recovery is different,” he said. 

The Luters help others caring for loved ones with traumatic brain injuries, or TBI, through the power of social media. Brenda said they get messages from people just beginning their journey, with nowhere to turn. 

“I remember that scared journey myself. I remember that scared initial part of like somebody help me, somebody tell me what this is going to be like. We get those desperate calls, and we try to help those people on their journeys. I talk to people a lot, across the country and try to help them,” she said. 

The resilient, now 23-year-old is bringing joy and inspiration to every person who clicks on his page.

“There’s some people that have said that their lives were so bad they were ready to end it, and Josh has made them stay alive,” Brenda said. 

“I think that’s kind of part of the hope of presenting this, is that everybody can see that you’re really not alone in your troubles,” Aaron said. 

Over the past four years, Josh’s parents said he has made tremendous strides, and as long as he is progressing, they can’t ask for anything more.