Spring Break Tragedy - 30-Year Anniversary of a Miraculous Recovery

In celebration of surviving, attorney donates $1 on behalf of each of the thousands on his email and Facebook list

News provided by

Mar 19, 2019, 13:30 ET

TEANECK, N.J., March 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- March 20, 2019, marks the 30-year anniversary of Steven Benvenisti's family receiving that middle of the night phone call from doctors asking for consent to donate his organs. As a college senior six weeks from graduation from The College of New Jersey (Trenton State College), he nearly lost everything when a drunk driver's vehicle jumped a curb and struck him while he was walking down a street in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Steven in the hospital in 1989, and Steven today.

Steven had not used alcohol that night, but another young person's bad decision to drink and drive left Steven with a life-threatening brain injury, crushed lower legs, other fractures, open flesh wounds and significant blood loss. His head went through the car's windshield, and the impact of the collision tossed his broken body 70 feet. He was in a coma for 10 days.

Through five months in the hospital, 15 major surgeries, countless prayers from family and friends, and a two-and-a-half-year struggle to walk and talk again, Steven made a 100 percent full recovery from his physical and brain injuries.

While hospitalized, Steven pledged to fight for victims like himself and to stop drunk driving, along with helping those living with brain injury. He graduated from college with high honors, and went to law school. Today he is a highly respected injury attorney and partner at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. in Teaneck. Steven now lives in Bergen County, is married, has 2 teenage children, and runs daily.

Steven also serves on the NJ Board of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), is the President of the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey (BIANJ) and is on the Board of The Helen Hayes Hospital Foundation.

20 times per year, he speaks at local high schools to prevent drunk driving and internationally at medical conferences, helping doctors understand that there can be a full recovery after sustaining a brain injury. Steven authored the book Spring Break: A True Story of Hope and Determination, with all proceeds and honorariums being donated to charity.

Steven has testified multiple times before the New Jersey legislature to get NJ to be the 31st state (+ DC) to get a law passed requiring the installation of ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers. Just this month, Steven was honored with the New Jersey Association for Justice's Gold Medal for Distinguished Service Award, for his unyielding and inspirational mission to ending drunk driving. The award is the highest honor that the Association grants to its members and is reserved for those who spend both their careers and lives advocating for their community and clients.

Each year, to coincide with his March 20th Anniversary of Life, Steven donates $1 on behalf of each of the thousands of people on his email and Facebook friends list to either MADD or the BIANJ. These are amazing charities that have saved countless lives and have supported the thousands of individuals who have suffered a traumatic brain injury or have been affected by the consequences of drunk driving.

If you are interested in making a contribution to any one of these charities, please visit www.madd.org or www.bianj.org. To learn more about Steven's story, or to contact him directly, please call 1-800-LAW-2000, email [email protected], or visit www.dsslaw.com/stevens-story.

Contact: Elizabeth Sheldon, Marketing Coordinator: [email protected]

Related Images

steven.jpg
Steven
Steven in the hospital in 1989, and Steven today.

spring-break.jpg
Spring Break
Cover of Steven's book, Spring Break: A True Story of Hope and Determination

dss-logo.jpg
DSS Logo
Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. logo

Related Links

DSS website

Steven's Story

SOURCE Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.