Save Iowa

A Flood Story: Timothy Jensen recovers from 2008 Flood, Surgery

Posted on 21. Mar, 2010 by admin in 2008 Flood, Stories

A Flood Story
By Cari Cooney

There are so many stories from flood victims that find their way to my inbox. While all of them are interesting, heart-breaking and sometimes, pleasantly enlightening, the story of Timothy “TJ” Jensen was truly incredible. Told to me by his dear friend Rebecca Hall, his story of loss, courage and perseverance could serve as an inspiration to all who reads his tale.

Timothy’s home on 18th Ave SW in the Czech Village of Cedar Rapids was a complete loss in the flooding of 2008. The value of his home dropped to nothing more than $5000.00 worth of land in the matter of weeks. Just months before that, everything was going well. He welcomed his first child into the world in March of the same year, a beautiful daughter named Makiah. As he was enjoying spending time with his newborn daughter, he never imagined that he would be forced to evacuate his home in just a few, short months.

As if there were not enough on his plate, he was also struggling with seizures brought on by Epilepsy from an early childhood accident. In the fall of 2003, Timothy was run off I-380 by a semi. The seizures increased in frequency and he was referred to the University of Iowa for further testing. Months went on. The testing continued to try and locate where in the brain the seizures were coming from. He went through surgery to attach electrodes to his brain to monitor the seizure activity.

The University was also conducting a study at the same time to help those with hearing impairments. The electrode data would be used to help the physicians at the University of Iowa with TJ’s seizures, but also with learning about various sounds and the brain’s response. With successful monitoring, they were able to pinpoint where his seizures were developing.

A second surgery would take place to attempt to halt the activity. Friend Rebecca Hall remembers talking to TJ. She told him she was afraid the surgery wouldn’t work and feared for his health. TJ’s response was “if it doesn’t stop my seizures, then that’s okay. It’s okay because if nothing else, I was able to be part of something that could help someone who is deaf hear someday.”

TJ’s surgery was a success. He was able to get his driver’s license back and received a promotion at this job. He was also able to purchase his home…the same home that was so quickly destroyed in the floods. In the following year after the flood, local station KGAN did a “30 Days of Thanksgiving” giveaway with Royal Neighbors of American. $74,000.00 was given to flood victims, one heart-wrenching story at a time. Rebecca wrote TJ’s tale for his nomination.

Her recommendation led to TJ winning $1000.00 towards getting his life re-established. She and his father worked out a deal where they told TJ that a contractor was going to be stopping by the flood house. He was quite surprised when it was a news crew, complete with balloons and a big check! They interviewed him right there…in the house he had loved so much. It was nothing more than sub-flooring and studs.

As of now, Timothy is staying with his family. He has recently received information that he is qualified for a buyout. He’s patiently playing the waiting game, but TJ has persevered over many challenges in the past few years, and anyone who knows Timothy Jensen personally wouldn’t expect anything different.