Update Info:

Orignal Need Alert:

We alert you today to a family whose son was involved in a severe auto accident in early January of this year. It was a single-car accident. He remembers leaving work, and the next thing he remembers is that he woke up in the hospital. Eyewitnesses say his truck veered off the road, rolled over an embankment, and hit several trees. Due to the severity of his injuries, he was life-flighted to a regional trauma center. He spent several weeks in ICU. His injuries included five spinal breaks, a broken jaw, broken collar bone, and broken ribs. He underwent multiple surgeries on his spine and jaw.

He has had no feeling below the waist and has been unable to walk since the accident. After several weeks in ICU, he was transferred to The Shepherd Center in Atlanta. He’s currently undergoing treatment at Shepherd, mainly physical therapy rehabilitation, to help him learn how to utilize his upper body and adapt to life in a wheelchair. Doctors are not giving any indication of whether or not he will regain feeling in his lower body or if he’ll have the ability to walk again.

They have deemed his status “incomplete,” which means that there is a chance he could walk again, but no guarantees. As long as they do not determine his case to be “complete,” there is still hope for rehabilitation to walk eventually. As of now, he only has reflex movements in his legs but has no sensation in his lower body.

The plan is to transition from inpatient care at the hospital to an outpatient day program starting March 26th. This plan allows him to live on-site at a family center next door and continue therapies during the day at Shepherd.

As you can imagine, the medical bills, rehabilitation, wheelchair equipment, and ongoing care come at quite a hefty price.

His family is required to make a plan for him to return home in the coming months and find a solution to adapt their home to make it wheelchair accessible.

The following are the estimated out-of-pocket costs:

Approximately $7,000 for out-of-pocket medical expenses
*That’s only if the insurance covers the bulk of the medical costs that they have accrued so far. There are still unknowns related to his wheelchair equipment, physician co-pays, and the parent’s income loss to be with their son in the hospital.

They’ll need $5,000 for a concrete pad driveway to keep his wheelchair out of the dirt & mud (currently, they only have a gravel driveway and a stone walkway in front of their house). They need solid pavement for him to be able to roll his wheelchair to and from vehicles and the home.

Their home will need modifications as well on the first floor to install a wheelchair accessible bathroom and to provide wheelchair access to the back of the house. Quotes received so far total approximately $26,000.

The cost of the day program is $500 per week. He will be in this program for several weeks. During that time, a caretaker/parent is required onsite with him. When this program begins, the parents will take turns missing 2-3 days of work per week, so there will be further income lost during the day program.

The family is looking at approximately $40,000 of expenses for medical, equipment, and modifications to make their home adaptable for a wheelchair.

We have set the relief goal at $40,000, and this Need Alert will remain open indefinitely. Please pray for this young man and his family, share this need with others, give if you can. As a reminder, all donations are 100% tax-deductible, and 100% of the money raised (less PayPal fees) will be delivered directly to the family.

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