The Experience Miracles Podcast

Fight Like Luke: A Father’s Mission of Hope After Tragedy with Tim Siegel

Sep 2, 2025

Pediatric Brain Injury Recovery: Fighting Forward with Tim Siegel of Team Luke Hope for Minds

Episode 135, Experience Miracles Podcast | Host: Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP, Pediatric Chiropractor & Founder of PX Docs | Published: September 2, 2024 | Duration: ~50 min Guest: Tim Siegel, Founder & Executive Director, Team Luke Hope for Minds

Key Takeaways

  • When 9-year-old Luke Siegel suffered cardiac arrest for seven minutes in a golf cart accident, neurologists told his father Tim that Luke would never use his limbs, open his eyes, or speak, yet 15 months later, Luke responded to a voice command, defying every prognosis.
  • Despite being told the first 18 months are a child’s only window for brain injury recovery, Luke made his most significant progress in year six, through intensive therapies including PT, OT, speech, hyperbaric oxygen, the Locomat robotic machine, laser therapy, and stem cells, combined with daily presence, movement, and his father’s relentless love.
  • Team Luke Hope for Minds, founded in January 2018, now operates in 47 states, providing financial support, education, and community connection to families of children with post-birth pediatric brain injuries, including strokes, non-fatal drownings, car accidents, and golf cart accidents.
  • The Making Connections Conference (October 24–25, Austin, TX) is Team Luke’s annual gathering for families navigating brain injury, last year over 160 families attended, with more than 70 families receiving scholarships to cover costs.
  • Tim Siegel has published two books and a 50-minute documentary (Hope Beyond the Diagnosis, YouTube, 2024) to extend Luke’s legacy and equip other families with the education and hope they need to fight forward.

What Does It Look Like to Fight for Your Child After a Catastrophic Brain Injury?

When 9-year-old Luke Siegel suffered a golf cart accident resulting in seven minutes of cardiac arrest and a global anoxic brain injury, neurologists told his father Tim that Luke would never use his limbs, speak, or open his eyes. Tim refused to accept that prognosis. After 44 days of surgeries and four months and five days at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Tim brought Luke home and became his full-time caregiver, night nurse five nights a week, daily therapist, and relentless advocate.

Fifteen months after the accident, Luke moved his tongue when Tim asked about the New Orleans Saints. From that moment forward, Tim knew Luke understood far more than the MRI suggested. Over the next six years, Luke continued making progress, with Tim pushing him through PT, OT, speech, hyperbaric oxygen, the Locomat robotic gait training machine, laser therapy, stem cells, and more. Tim credits the greatest therapy as something no clinic can provide: love. Luke passed away from COVID on August 19, 2021, at age 15. He had lived six years beyond a prognosis that gave him days.

Today, Tim Siegel channels that journey through Team Luke Hope for Minds, a nonprofit now active in 47 states serving families of children with acquired brain injuries. He speaks nationally, runs the annual Making Connections Conference, and carries seven life lessons Luke gave him, including the one he calls the hardest and most freeing: forgiveness. In this episode, Tim and Dr. Tony Ebel, two fathers whose sons both experienced traumatic neurological injuries, talk honestly about what it takes to fight forward when the medical system points toward the exit.

Two Dads, Two Journeys Into Brain Injury [00:01:00 – 00:08:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP: This episode is one of those conversations that is going to leave its mark. I had the honor of sitting down with Tim Siegel, a father who has walked through every parent’s worst nightmare and came out of it with a mission far bigger than himself.

In 2015, Tim’s 9-year-old son Luke was in a tragic golf cart accident that led to cardiac arrest, severe brain trauma, and a life-changing journey that no family ever expects or wants. At the time, Tim had just stepped away from his 23-year coaching career at Texas Tech to spend more time with his wife and four kids, and just 20 days later, their whole world changed.

What came next is what this platform is really about: that relentless fight forward no matter what. The love, the unbelievable strength that Luke showed. And the way that Tim turned this unimaginable pain into purpose through Team Luke Foundation, which now helps thousands of families navigate brain injury and trauma with support, resources, and hope.

This was a conversation of two guys who know a lot about brain injuries, about neurology, about recovery and community. But first and foremost, two dads. Because I was blessed to intervene along with the medical system literally right away for my son Oliver and his hypoxic brain injury, his outcome has truly been a miracle.

But every story, every child is a miracle written in its own way, designed to create purpose and impact and change the world for other kids and other families. If you ever feel like we’re almost too hopeful, going for an incredible, unbelievable outcome, I get that, and Tim gets that more than anybody. But I want you to stay tuned in because so many others that come onto your healthcare team are going to do the opposite. They’re going to try to take hope away.

So forgive me if we very intentionally, strategically from our heart and from our head, go fully to the opposite. We just want to continue to pull you, push you, champion you forward, no matter where you are today and no matter how far forward can truly take you.

Luke’s Story: The Accident, the Prognosis, and the Refusal to Quit [00:08:00 – 00:11:00]

Tim Siegel: I was a tennis coach at Texas Tech for 23 years, and I decided on July 8th, 2015 to resign, primarily to spend more time with my kids. I had a 12-year-old daughter, a 10-year-old daughter, and a 9-year-old son. Luke was a big-time baseball player at nine years old.

Twenty days after I resigned, July 28th, 2015, I got a phone call that no father ever wants to receive. Luke was in a golf cart accident at a friend’s house. I got to the scene and the helicopter was hovering above. I was told immediately to get to the hospital.

About five minutes after arriving, I was told that the golf cart landed on top of Luke’s chest. He suffered head and chest trauma and was in cardiac arrest for seven minutes. He had an anoxic brain injury, and the first night or two were very much touch and go. Forty-four days into multiple surgeries later, we were transferred to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, where we spent four months and five days.

When we arrived, we were put in a room with therapists, nurses, social workers. The last person to speak, the neurologist, told me: “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but based on Luke’s MRI, he will never use his limbs, use his voice, or open his eyes.”

You can imagine what my wife and I were thinking. But I just knew that Luke would do more than what we were told. Five months after the accident, we came back to Lubbock and I became Luke’s primary caregiver. I spent basically every waking hour with Luke. I was his night nurse five nights a week. I was taking Luke to PT, OT, and speech. I was just one of those dads that was so convinced Luke was going to do more than what we were told.

“I don’t give a damn about an MRI. I care about what I’m going to do for my son.”, Tim Siegel

Luke’s Breakthrough and Six Years of Progress [00:11:00 – 00:13:00]

Tim Siegel: I would ask Luke to blink, but I didn’t know if that was really Luke blinking or just a reflex. I’m from New Orleans, so I’m the biggest New Orleans Saints fan you’ve ever met. And Luke was the same way. So I remember asking Luke, “Do you think the Saints are going to win today? Move your tongue.”

He moved his tongue. And from that point on I said: I’ve got this. Luke is responding to one command. This is just the first of many.

That was about 15 months after the accident. Drew Brees sent Luke a video. Patrick Mahomes wears the Team Luke bracelet on his right wrist because of his involvement with Texas Tech. Those athletes, I think, helped Luke. But what I know for certain is that Luke, with PT, OT, speech, stem cell therapy, laser therapy, hyperbaric oxygen, and weekly trips to Fort Worth for two years to get on the Locomat robotic machine, kept moving forward.

The greatest therapy Luke received was love. And that love came from his family, really from me. I was Dad, but I was also coach. I knew I could coach Luke up.

I would say, “Luke, can I hear your voice?” And he would make a sound. Then I would say, “Luke, I love you.” And he would say it back.

The neurosurgeons in Lubbock told me weeks after the fact that they did not expect Luke to live past the first week, and they certainly did not expect Luke to ever make a sound or respond to a command. What they believed was based only on an MRI. I’m here to tell every parent: I’m not going to tell you what your kid can do, because every brain injury is different. But I’ve seen miracles every single day, certainly since 2018.

“I always thought Luke was going to speak, but he is speaking. He’s just speaking right now through me.”, Tim Siegel

Luke’s Passing and the Long Road to Forgiveness [00:13:00 – 00:18:00]

Tim Siegel: Luke was doing really well. But in the middle of August 2021, Luke got COVID. Maybe I was naive, but I thought: Luke’s going to overcome this. He’s overcome everything.

August 15th is when he got COVID. They sent us home. I didn’t like what I saw. I had to give him extra breathing treatments. Took him to the ER on August 18th of 2021. Luke was in the hospital with his mom, and I came back to the house. I got a knock on the door: get to the ICU at four in the morning.

On my way to the hospital, I heard a voice: “You’re going to be okay, but Luke’s not going to make it.” I fought that until I got to the hospital. The first person I saw was the doctor. She said, “I don’t know if your son’s going to make it.” And I said, “I know.”

On August 19th, 2021, at the age of 15, Luke passed away.

The month of July is very difficult for me, only surpassed by the month of August. But what I will say in closing about Luke’s story: I do a lot of public speaking, and I carry seven inspirations from Luke. Find your passion. Don’t ever quit. Lean on friends and family. Make good choices. Be careful. Have faith. Find forgiveness. And let a loved one’s legacy live on through you.

That number six, find forgiveness, was a hard one for me. I finally forgave the family on August 3rd, 2023. So we’re coming up on two years now. It freed me. Anger and bitterness are no longer part of my life. Just sadness. And I know that Luke is making an impact every day, inspiring people all over the country every single day.

Dr. Tony’s Parallel Story: Oliver’s Birth Injury and What Prepared Them [00:18:00 – 00:25:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: As a dad, six weeks in the NICU, day three, we had a very similar neurologist statement. “He only has a 20% chance of living to age one. 99% chance he’ll have cerebral palsy and autism. He’ll never walk, he’ll never talk.” And that doctor only said 99% because who says 100%? But he meant a hundred.

I remember having the same mentality you had. Not out of disrespect, not out of lack of understanding of the severity of his anoxic injury and everything else. Just: we’re going to figure this out together. And it was us and our family, and we just teamed up. There was some different wiring that was ready to activate in that moment that I would have never known was inside me as a dad until the button got turned on.

I had this cheat code, if you will, when Oliver’s injury came in, I was already in clinic doing work for traumatic brain injuries and had put together a lot of clinical protocols. So there was this starting-on-second-or-third-base healing component for Oliver that I know was a real difference maker for him.

But I also know not everybody gets to start with that knowledge. And if you don’t have it, well, how do you take the action? Sometimes the action feels like it came so far down the road: “I wish we’d have known X, I wish we’d have known Y.” So if you think back to those first five days, those first four months, what did you find first? Were you going full science-nerd neurological? Or were you seeking people that knew what you needed to know?

Tim Siegel: Definitely both. What I was hearing was not what I wanted to believe. Most parents I’ve spoken to have been told what their son or daughter will not do. I also knew I had someone different, and they didn’t know me either.

When a doctor says to me, a week into the accident, “Do you want to continue?”, I looked at him like: what are you talking about? Continue.

You also hear things like, “The first 18 months are when Luke is going to make his most progress.” I’m here to say that year six, Luke made his most progress. Because of all those therapies. But also because I spoke to Luke. And the love Luke received was more powerful than any therapy. At least as powerful. God and I were going to do this together.

“I Don’t Give a Damn About an MRI”: Choosing the Right Care Team [00:25:00 – 00:27:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: When you were looking for doctors and providers on Luke’s team, were you looking for a shared mentality, someone who said, “We’re going to prove them wrong, we’re going to do things they said you couldn’t”? Was that how you decided who got on Team Luke?

Tim Siegel: What I can tell you is this: when the neurosurgeons told me in Lubbock, weeks after the fact, that they did not expect Luke to live past the first week, and certainly did not expect Luke to ever make a sound, that told me what they believed was based only on an MRI.

I even remember telling a doctor: I don’t give a damn about an MRI. I care about what I’m going to do for my son.

When you have a global anoxic injury, and the fact that Luke was globally damaged, you can’t get worse than globally damaged, I’m still here to tell every parent that reaches out to me: I’m not going to tell you what your kid can do, because every brain injury is different. But I can tell you what we accomplished, to give hope to families, to believe in what their children can do.

“So many others who come onto your healthcare team are going to do the opposite. They’re going to try to take hope away, to give you as limited a forward path as possible.”, Dr. Tony Ebel

Team Luke Hope for Minds: Supporting Families Across 47 States [00:27:00 – 00:33:00]

Tim Siegel: Team Luke Hope for Minds started in January of 2018 and we are currently in 47 states, helping families through education and financial support. What we do is help families whose children had a brain injury post-birth, from strokes after birth, to non-fatal drownings (which we see the most), car accidents, accidents at home, golf cart accidents like my son. Families are reaching out to us every single day.

Most reach out for financial support. But what families have learned, and our staff has learned, is that what we provide more importantly than financial support is education. What I’m able to talk to parents about when a parent tells me their son had an accident four months ago, or even four years ago, is this: I’m encouraged, because they’re often further along than my son even was at the very end.

It’s so isolating when you’re doing this. I felt like I was the only one around, taking care of Luke 24/7. But I also knew I needed others in my life. That’s part of why the organization exists, to make sure no parent feels alone in this.

Luke’s favorite number is three. I have a saying now that I remind myself, and that I remind families: three words. Fight like Luke. I remind families to fight like Luke. And I remind myself, because it’s very easy for me to feel overwhelming sadness. I coached Luke, and Luke is now coaching me.

Team Luke Hope for Minds: teamlukehopeforminds.org | Over 70,000 Facebook followers on the “Luke’s Legacy, Pray for Luke Siegel” page, with posts regularly reaching over 100,000 people.

What Actually Moves the Neurological Needle: Therapies and Recovery [00:33:00 – 00:38:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Now that you know what you know from all these interventions, all the things you did for Luke over six years, all the things you’re seeing other families do, where do you find the neurological needle actually being moved? What’s on your list?

Tim Siegel: I was always asked what therapy helped Luke the most. My answer is: all of it. If someone said to me, “If you walk to New York, Luke will get better”, I would have tried it.

From stem cells to laser therapy, red light therapy to hyperbaric oxygen, to PT, OT, speech, I believed all of those things mattered. But the thing I know for certain: Luke, and any child with a brain injury, is not going to heal by sitting in a wheelchair or lying in bed. I wanted Luke upright all the time. I pushed him hard, on a stander every day, stretching him, working him as if I was coaching him.

I talked to Luke like he understood everything, that he was healthy. And the only way that works is if you’re working him to get better. We did that every single day. I knew based on Luke’s eyes how he was doing. There is so much I learned.

Dr. Tony Ebel: We know exactly where these injuries set up shop. We know about proprioception and saturation and oxygenation. We know how to turn that sucker back on. What we’ve done as best as we possibly can is put two things together: full-out hope and science. Hope and answers come together with the help.

Making Connections Conference: Austin, October 2024 [00:38:00 – 00:44:00]

Tim Siegel: Team Luke Hope for Minds started in 2018 when I merged my organization with Rhonda Johnson’s Hope for Minds. The conference started as a one-day event and is now a two-day conference with three, four, five speakers every hour. Its name is Making Connections, and that’s exactly what happens in those two days.

Families there are in a safe place. Everyone gets it. Parents are talking to each other: “What do you do for nutrition?” “What do you do for this?” It’s so powerful to see.

This year the conference is October 24th and 25th in Austin, Texas. We’ve scholarshiped over 70 families. Last year we had over 160 families attend. We have over 15 families on a waiting list right now. This is our Super Bowl. This is our opportunity to make a difference.

We also recently released a documentary, Hope Beyond the Diagnosis, which is on YouTube. It’s 50 minutes and features Dr. Phil, Patrick Mahomes, Drew Brees, and families sharing their stories from last year’s conference. It gives you a deeper look at what Team Luke does every day.

teamlukehopeforminds.org, contribute, learn more, or apply for scholarship support.

Dr. Tony Ebel: I will be there with my notebook, front row, learning everything. Dr. Crawford and the other speakers, I’m going to bother them in the hallways and ask questions about cases where we’ve figured out X and Z but Y is still jamming us up. I’m so excited for this conference.

Luke’s Legacy: Books, Documentary, and What Comes Next [00:44:00 – end]

Tim Siegel: I’ve written two books. My first, It’s in God’s Hands, chronicles being a caregiver. My second, Fight Like Luke: Transforming Grief into Love, Strength, and Faith, came out at the end of 2022.

Because Luke’s favorite number is three, I feel like there needs to be a third and final book, about how I’ve healed. I could see that coming out sometime next year.

People can also go on YouTube and search “A Father, a Son and Their Saints”, it’s an ESPN story about Luke and Drew Brees and the Saints.

Dr. Tony Ebel: Every day we get up, we move forward, and we serve more. And every single one of you in this world, that’s what God knew about your child, your path, and you in that seat. You are made for impact. Fight like Luke. Let’s go.

Go after each and every one of those resources. We’re going to pepper the show notes. Tim, God bless you, sir.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Team Luke Hope for Minds and who does it serve?

Team Luke Hope for Minds is a nonprofit founded in January 2018 by Tim Siegel after his son Luke’s death following a catastrophic golf cart accident and brain injury. The organization operates in 47 states and supports families whose children have experienced a post-birth acquired brain injury, including non-fatal drownings (the most common), car accidents, strokes, and accidents at home. Support includes financial assistance, education, and access to community through the annual Making Connections Conference.

Can a child make recovery progress years after a severe brain injury, or only in the first 18 months?

Doctors frequently tell families that the first 18 months after a brain injury represent the primary window for recovery. Tim Siegel’s experience with his son Luke challenges this directly, Luke made his most significant progress in year six of recovery. Tim attributes this to continuous therapeutic intervention (PT, OT, speech, hyperbaric oxygen, the Locomat robotic machine, and more), combined with daily movement, upright positioning, and love. Every brain injury is different, but sustained, consistent effort over years, not just months, can continue to move the needle.

What therapies did Tim Siegel use for Luke’s brain injury recovery?

Tim used a comprehensive, multi-modal approach: traditional PT, OT, and speech therapy as the foundation, alongside stem cell therapy, laser (red light) therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), weekly sessions on the Locomat robotic gait-training machine, and acupuncture. Tim was clear that he believed all of it mattered. But equally important, and perhaps more important, was keeping Luke upright and moving every day, talking to Luke as if he understood everything, and providing consistent, loving presence. “I treated Luke like he was healthy and the only way that works is if you’re working him to get better.”

How does a parent maintain hope after a devastating brain injury prognosis?

Both Tim Siegel and Dr. Tony Ebel received near-identical prognoses for their sons, neurologists who cited MRIs and delivered bleak predictions about what their children would never do. Both describe the same internal response: a refusal to let the MRI be the final word. Tim’s framework is to focus on what he can do for his child rather than what doctors say they can’t do. His seven life lessons from Luke, find your passion, don’t ever quit, lean on friends and family, make good choices, be careful, have faith, find forgiveness, and let a loved one’s legacy live on through you, serve as both a guide and a call to action for other families in crisis.

What is the Making Connections Conference?

Making Connections is Team Luke Hope for Minds’ annual two-day conference for families navigating pediatric brain injury. The 2024 conference took place October 24–25 in Austin, Texas. Last year over 160 families attended, with 70+ receiving scholarships. The conference features multiple speakers every hour covering therapy, neurology, and advocacy, but Tim Siegel says the most powerful thing that happens is parents talking to each other. “Those families know that everyone there gets it. And that’s so powerful.” Future conferences will continue annually.

How can I find a neurologically-focused chiropractor for my child’s brain injury recovery?

Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care targets the brainstem and autonomic nervous system, areas profoundly affected by traumatic and anoxic brain injuries. Dr. Tony Ebel, who used this approach as part of his son Oliver’s recovery from a hypoxic birth injury, will be presenting at the Making Connections Conference. To find a PX Docs practitioner near you who specializes in pediatric nervous system care, visit the directory below.

Resources & Related Content

Find A PX Doc

Welcome to PX Docs. The place to find Hope. Answers. Hope. for you and your family.