I would be very cautious about taking away people's hope of recovery after the first year post-injury, especially as our knowledge of brain injuries, recovery and potential treatments expands. It wasn't that long ago that the (once-maligned) concept of neuroplasticity revolutionized our understanding of the brain's ability to adapt over the course of a lifetime. I would be very wary of endorsing the blanket statement made by that doctor.

Just off the top of my head, I can think of some athletes whose recoveries took closer to two years - e.g., Corey Koskie, Mike Matheny (the latter said it took him 18 months to be able to do the things he was doing pre-injury, and he was recently - about five years post-injury - named manager of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, a prestigious and demanding position).