Harriet Tubman Had a Brain Injury That Caused Blackouts: She Used It to Hear God and Free 300 People

At around twelve years old, Harriet Tubman was struck in the head by a heavy lead weight thrown by an overseer. She never fully recovered. For the rest of her life, she experienced sudden blackouts, sleep-related episodes, vivid visions, and voices that she believed came directly from God. Her enslavers considered her injured and unreliable. But Harriet refused to see herself as broken. She used her faith, extraordinary courage, physical endurance, and knowledge of the land to escape approximately ninety miles to freedom. Then she made an unbelievable decision. She went back. Again and again, Harriet Tubman risked capture to help enslaved people escape through the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, she also served as a Union scout, spy, nurse, and guide—and helped lead the Combahee River Raid, which freed more than seven hundred enslaved people.

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