By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

Raised in an impoverished Bottom neighborhood in Philadelphia, Kareem Rosser may have been born with one strike already against him, but through persistence and opportunities, his life followed a course of success that led to a college education, made him a national collegiate champion and gave him the honor of being named as the Intercollegiate Polo Player of the Year. 

By the time he reached his early twenties, his personal life was also on a meteoric rise in the person of Cordelia “Lee Lee” Jones, a young equestrian from the wealthy Philadelphia suburbs, with whom Rosser fell in love. As their relationship blossomed, they began to make dreams for a life together. A farmhouse on a wide acreage of countryside. Hundreds of horses. 

Then tragedy struck.

Rosser brought his story of heartbreak and renewal to the Kennett Library Auditorium on Oct. 2, as part of the Library’s Speaker Series. Moderated by author Mark Bowden, Rosser spoke about his relationship with Jones, who in 2016, was the victim of a riding accident and endured a long recovery period as a traumatic brain injury survivor – first at the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del. and then at the Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital on Pennsylvania’s Main Line. Rosser and Jones’ story is now captured in Rosser’s second book, When You’re Ready (Simon Element 2025).

“I spent a lot of time hearing about this beautiful young girl from Chester County that I should meet, and between the folks here in Chester County and the kids who worked with me in Philadelphia, they kept telling about this gorgeous girl, so I finally took the time to look up Lee Lee Jones and found that they were absolutely right,” said Rosser, who met Jones in 2014. “Lee Lee and I began to spend a lot of time in Chester County, and that’s where our relationship began to grow.”

Rosser said that by 2016, his life had gone from the stark reality of living in inner-city Philadelphia where drugs and crime are rampant to imagining a life with Jones on a farm – a highly unlikely if not impossible scenario. By December of that year, as Jones began a years-long journey of rehabilitation, Rosser’s life began to tumble out of control. 

“The thought that something like that could happen seemed impossible,” he said. “It never crossed my mind. I vaguely remember the doctor coming in and talking to Lee Lee’s family and I about the severity of her accident. He told us that there was a possibility that she wouldn’t make it, and that she had between 48 and 72 hours to pull through.

“It took me time to really gather my thoughts and try to understand the severity of what was happening. Lee Lee and I had been talking about Christmas and now everything was focused on Lee Lee.”

Over the next several years, Rosser said, Jones survived on the strength and love given to her by her family as well as the experts at both hospitals. When she was transferred to Bryn Mawr, however, she demonstrated a severe amount of “act out” anger, a behavior that is common to patients who are recovering from traumatic brain injuries, said panelist Nia Billings, a psychologist at Bryn Mawr who worked with Jones.

“After you experience severe injuries to your brain, it is very hard to process the world around you and what is going on, and it’s really frustrating on patients who cannot really communicate their needs effectively,” Billings said. While Rosser watched Jones work her way slowly through rehabilitation, he began to suffer from “ambiguous loss,” what Billings referred to as a loss that occurs when a loved one is physically present and emotionally disconnected.

“For many people, they go from partners to taking on more of a caregiver role,” she said.

Through Jones’ recovery, Rosser began to see a psychiatrist with the goal of trying to grieve properly.

“It didn’t make any sense to me that this incredible human was going through what she was going through, and how does one continue to be present and love and care for that person when everything was now so different,” he said. “I didn’t know how to communicate or connect myself to anyone, but I continually had people around me who just showed up, and the psychiatrist allowed me to make sense of what I was feeling.”

Billings said that while it is uncommon for young men to have the presence of mind to seek therapy like Rosser did, she congratulated Rosser for having the “courage” to share his story.

“People should not suffer in silence,” she said.

Rosser is now the Executive Vice President for Work to Ride, a Philadelphia-based organization he attended when he was younger that empowers inner city youth through horsemanship, equine sports, and educational programs.

To learn more about Kareem Rosser, visit www.kareemrosser.com.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].