After a Traumatic Brain Injury, Charlie Chase Rebuilt Her Life and Gained 2 Million Followers

At just 17, Charlie Chase suffered a brain injury that was so severe it derailed her entire academic future.

Four years of doctor visits, rehab and relearning how to function. Most people would call that rock bottom, but Chase calls it the beginning.

The model and content creator, who now has over 2 million followers across social media, spent those lost years becoming a massage therapist specializing in traumatic brain injury patients. She worked on people experiencing the same hell she'd just escaped.

Before the followers and fame, before strangers debated whether her beach walks were green-screened (they weren't, but the conspiracy theories still rage), Chase was splitting shifts between massage therapy and waitressing. COVID then gutted both industries so she pivoted to modeling, then realized she needed to learn content creation for marketing.

There was just one problem: crippling camera shyness.

"I was so nervous to start," Chase admits. "I did not feel confident putting myself out there."

She then learned how to master other skills like crochet and yoga, which became both content and genuine passion, woven into a brand that feels authentic because it is. The woman who once couldn't imagine being public now handles millions of eyes on her daily life.

From teenage trauma patient to treating trauma patients to accidental viral sensation, Chase's trajectory defies every traditional career arc. The brain injury that stole her conventional path gave her something else entirely: proof that rock bottom is sometimes just a foundation in disguise.