New Paltz High School Class of 2005 graduate and traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor Bart Groudine-Goldstein, 36, died suddenly on Sunday, November 27 after attending a wedding with his parents and friends in Buffalo.
Groudine-Goldstein was adopted by Joel and Dayle Goldstein from Korea when he was five months old. His father said that from the minute they met him off the plane, they knew he was special. “The person accompanying him [from the adoption service] all the way from Korea said to us, ‘He’s a strong one!’ and he was. We began rapidly to get a sense of just how strong and brilliant he was, and full of energy. Bart was the life of the party from Day One,” said his father. “He just had this charisma about him.”
At 16 years of age, Bart was involved in a car crash in downtown New Paltz, near the Water Street Market, that required him to be airlifted to Westchester Medical Center and put on life support. He suffered traumatic brain injuries, underwent intensive brain surgeries and went into a coma for 30 days. It was every parent’s nightmare.
“His prognosis was not good,” said his father, the author of No Stone Unturned, which chronicles his son’s accident and their family journey to find alternative treatments that would help heal him and eventually allow him to lead a full, independent life. Bart also received support from so many members of the New Paltz community, including then-NPHS principal Barbara Clinton, coach Billy Defino and aide Jeannie Ridgeway, all of whom understood that Bart was extroverted and needed the social stimuli that public school provided as well as the motor skill redevelopment that sports required. Defino worked with him daily to try to bring back his hand/eye coordination, which was a major struggle after the accident. Read the HV1 feature article on Bart from 2017 here: https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2012/04/24/joel-goldstein-recounts-his-son-barts-comeback-from-tbi-in-new-book-no-stone-unturned.
Alternative methods like hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and craniosacral treatments were game-changers for the Goldsteins and for their son, who eventually became the inspiration for the Brain Alternative Rehabilitation Foundation (BART Foundation), which provides information, support and advocacy for families and survivors with TBIs to have access to these treatments, particularly veterans. Bart was an ambassador for the Foundation, speaking to families and survivors one-on-one, but also appearing on NBC Nightly News and radio programs and giving talks to various groups about the benefits of these alternative therapies, particularly the hyperbaric chamber.
“What that does is to supply 100 percent oxygen to your blood at greater pressure,” his father explained. “Whenever you have that much oxygen in your blood, it helps to heal damaged tissue and spur regrowth in the vascular systems, which is what those with TBI or strokes or burn victims need.” The problem, according to Goldstein, is that in the US, this treatment is used for burn victims and for those with diabetic ulcers and various other issues, but not for TBI. “In Israel, it’s standard treatment for anyone with a TBI.”
The BART Foundation receives e-mails and calls weekly from people searching for information and help for their child, sibling, parent, spouse or friend who has suffered from a TBI. “I answer every one of those e-mails, and if the situation warrants it, we’ll get in touch by phone,” said Goldstein.
Bart was able to make great strides with love, friendship and alternative treatment, and with great effort he was able to graduate high school and move to Albany, where he attended Maria College for a semester. “College was great, but the academics were too hard for him after the accident,” his father explained. He was able to find an independent living situation in Delmar that was overseen by an organization called Living Resource, where he worked at Swifty’s Restaurant and Pub, learned to play guitar and became a beloved part of the Delmar community – so much so that they’re holding a spontaneous memorial service for him this Saturday.
“That’s what we always wanted for him: to be able to live an independent life,” said his father. “He managed to do that for 11 years in Delmar, and the outpouring of love and texts and messages from people we’ve never met or knew has been so heartwarming. Bart had this way about him, and was someone that people trusted and someone who had struggled and understood what that was all about.”
Goldstein referred to a text message he received from a man he’d never met who said what a huge impact his son had on him. “I wrote back and said, ‘How?’” The individual responded that he had recently moved to the Delmar area from California, had suffered from several mini-strokes and was spiraling physically and mentally from his health issues. Then he met Bart. “Bart apparently listened to him and was empathetic and told him that he needed to keep finding new treatments and ways to get better and that eventually he would. This really touched this man.”
His landlord of 11 years adored Bart and made his parents dinner after he passed and a donation to the BART Foundation. “He was so proud of the BART Foundation that he never went anywhere without cards that he could pass out,” said Goldstein of his son.
His parents moved closer to him so that they could continue to visit at least once a week, and often during the week, when they’d catch a movie. “Bart was almost a savant, where he could hear one bar of a song and name it for you, or tell you the lead actor and actresses and even secondary characters in almost any movie, along with the plot, and even pull lines from it. He always loved movies, and that stayed with him.”
COVID was hard on him, as he was extremely social, and his communication with friends and loved ones through various social media apps was critical during that time. “He loved to travel, and we went to Greece as a family as often as we could, where we have friends and relatives,” his dad said. “I’m Jewish, but Bart and his sister and mother are Greek Orthodox. We went to Greece for the entire 2004 Olympics. He loved it there.”
Bart Groudine-Goldstein had a brave and loving heart, and his parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew are all deeply saddened and mourning their loss, but they are soothed by the heartfelt messages they are receiving from all the people that their son and brother touched. Here’s just one of the many notes and texts and calls they’re receiving:
“Hi Joel, this is Kenny Drew. I just wanted to give you a quick update. The fundraiser/celebration of Bart’s incredible life is going to take place at the Real McCoy on Saturday, December 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. We are getting food from Swifty’s and we will have Bart’s favorite wine on hand to toast our amazing friend. We will have Bart’s favorite movies playing on the televisions and there will be lots of Yankees paraphernalia and of course a life-size cutout of the Rock, Bart’s favorite wrestler. We are wondering if you might have some of your books on hand, because we are hoping to sell them at the event. Your wonderful son truly made an impact on a lot of people in town, including me. You and Dayle were wonderful parents whom he spoke of often to all of us. He was so proud of you both and all the work that you and he did to help others.”
There will be the event in Delmar this Saturday, a small private, family gathering, and then a larger, more public event in March closer to their son’s birthday. To learn more about the BART Foundation, visit www.thebartfoundation.org/donate.
Join the family! 
