WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC VIDEO.

A life-changing injury can be caused by a blow or jolt to the head.

Those who suffer from a traumatic brain injury know it can be devastating, to the patients and their family members.

Preston Phillips, KSEE 24 News: Six years ago, I was forced to learn about traumatic brain injury first hand, after my brother was in a serious car accident.

Thanks to the quick action of surgeons and state of the art technology, he's made a full recovery and is now a firefighter.

Tonight, we take you inside the trauma center at Community Regional Medical Center to show you what doctors must do to make similar miracles happen.

And again, we want to warn you that the following story contains graphic video.

It's known as "The Golden Hour.”

The first sixty minutes following a major traumatic injury.

When a person must be stabilized and assessed.

Dr. Don Myers, Chief of Neurosurgery, CRMC: "What level of function do they have? Do they respond, do their eyes open, do they move their extremities, can they hear and respond to what your saying?"

When a person receives a blow or jolt to the head, the bruised brain starts to swell, causing cerebrospinal fluid to build up inside the skull, preventing the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain.

Without oxygen the brain will die.

That's why doctors only have minutes to relieve the pressure.

Dr. Myers: "If it's a large clot, then we take the clot out, if it's a swollen brain, we may decompress the brain with drugs. If that doesn't work, we may open the skull and remove parts of the skull to let the brain decompress."

But Dr. Myers says, in severe cases, when a patient isn't responding, a different approach must be used.

Surgeons begin the procedure by drilling a small hole into the patient's skull, then passing a thin tube into the brain.

Dr. Myers: "Passing this into the ventricle allows us to monitor the pressure even more accurately. Number 2, it allows us to let a little bit of spinal fluid off now and then to help relieve the pressure."

And until that pressure is relieved, each minute that passes increases the risk for brain damage that could lead to permanent disabilities.

Dr. Myers: "Typical things are problems with memory, confusion, inability to tackle simple problems, judgment, reason."

Each TBI is different.

Most mild and some moderate cases are completely resolved within weeks, with patients able to live independently and return to a normal lifestyle.

But in severe cases, if the patient survives, the healing process becomes a lifelong challenge.

Myers: "It's painful, it’s frustrating, you pick up the pieces, you do the best you can, you try to move forward, it's a devastating occurrence."

Once the swelling is controlled the road to recovery can begin, and Dr. John Edwards, rehab director at community regional medical center says often *that road, can be a long one.

Myers: "This is a slow process that they need at least a year to a year and a half before they'll really know the outcome and how much recovery will occur."

In the beginning stages of recovery patients must start from scratch, learning how to walk, talk and eat, all over again.

Over time, the goal is to get the patient as close as possible to where they were before the brain injury occurred.

Edwards: "I think the road is a highly varied one for some individuals but in general, it's probably like waking up in a nightmare from which you can't escape and then it gradually gets better as you improve with time."

Now tomorrow night at 6... We'll bring you the second part of TBI: The Silent Epidemic, and introduce you to people right here in the Central Valley, who continue to recover from their TBI’s, even years after their injury took place.

We'll also follow the personal story of a former sergeant with the Madera County Sheriff's department, and his amazing story of survival with TBI.

For Preston Phillips’ full story, click on the video link above.