Help Paul recover and rebuild!
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My husband, Paul Galusha, is a talented furniture designer, woodworker, and cabinet maker. Or he was until July 2011, when a City of Pensacola truck ran a stop sign and hit Paul, totaling the car he was driving.
Paul suffered a traumatic neck injury, resulting in debilitating head pain that has plagued him daily since the accident. We have traveled all over the country (The Mayo Clinic, The Michigan Neurological Head Pain Institute, Andrews Institute, and The Gulf Coast Pain Rehabilitation Center, to name a few) seeking diagnosis and a treatment plan. He was administered over 40 different medications and had multiple procedures (surgical nerve block injections and several radio-frequency ablations) that offered little relief. Finally we found a neurosurgeon familiar with Paul’s type of neck and ligament injury. The neurosurgeon fused his spine at C1 and C2, helping Paul tremendously. This surgery corrected the ligament instability and restored the blood flow to his brain. The surgery treated the majority of his symptoms that ranged from cognitive impairment, memory issues, and debilitating daily migraines. Paul still suffers from chronic head and neck pain, but we are grateful for the vast improvements in his health and in the fact that the pain is more manageable.
Needless to say, because of this accident and Paul’s level of pain, he was unable to work or even concentrate for long periods of time (concentration is pretty important when dealing with heavy machinery, especially saws!). To add insult to injury, in December of 2012, Paul’s dormant wood shop on Navy Boulevard was robbed. The thieves stole all of Paul’s woodworking tools accrued over his 13 year career. (The tools behind him in this photo are all gone.) This robbery amounted to a loss of thousands of dollars in tools and equipment. Since Paul was self-employed, this was his entire livelihood.
Due to being unable to work, Paul sold his vehicle, most of his valuables, and applied for Medical Disability for which he was approved. As you can imagine, Paul has a litany of medical bills, upwards of $250,000.00, but the City of Pensacola is staunchly sticking to their "Sovereign Immunity" policy and refusing to pay these bills.
Last week, Paul's doctors have given him the words for which he has been waiting for over three years: "Your neck surgery has fused nicely and it’s now time for you to try to go back to work."
He has been encouraged by his doctors to work through the existing pain, to stay occupied, and to return to what he loves. He has vowed to not let the last three years take any more from him. He retains his smile, his hope, his positive attitude, his passion, his creative intuition, and the possession that he holds so dear and that was too heavy to steal-- his table saw.
As of today, Paul has had severe head and neck pain for 1055 days in a row. We undersand that there is little we can do to break this pain cycle, but we can use our voices to break the cycle of neglect by the City of Pensacola.
We can help him in the following ways:
1- Write to the City Council, ask them to take responsibility, do the right thing and pay Paul's medical bills! Feel free to use any of the paragraph below.
jcannada-[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted]
Dear City of Pensacola Representatives,
I write to you as a friend of Mr. Paul Galusha to urge you to honor your responsibility for the Pensacola employee's car accident in July 2011 that totaled Mr. Galusha's car and caused him serious injury that has drastically altered his life, and that of his family.
As you likely are aware, he has suffered at least 1055 consistent days of severely debilitating head and neck pain. His medical bills are extensive, and his loss of earnings have had a significant impact on him and his children, as well as his wife. Mr. Galusha's life has been permanently altered due to your employee's negligence. I urge you to settle any lawsuit that may be pending, or otherwise fairly compensate Paul for his out-of-pocket medical expenses, lost wages, as well as his physical pain and emotional suffering. Your continued failure to remedy this situation is ethically and morally reprehensible, and an embarrassment to public employees and city officials throughout the country.
2-He needs donations for new/or functioning used tools. (See wish list)
3-He needs donations for a reliable used work vehicle.
4-He needs donations to hire a hand to help get his new shop in order.
5-He needs donations to pay the thousands of dollars in out of pocket medical expenses.
6-Most importantly, he needs a pat on the back, a thumbs up, or a high-five, for working so hard to get through this. He is my personal hero-- I high-five him every day!
Thank you, friends and community, for spreading the word, and helping in any way that you can.
Sincerely,
Valerie George and Paul Galusha
To view Pauls work, please visit www.paulgalushadesign.com.
Paul suffered a traumatic neck injury, resulting in debilitating head pain that has plagued him daily since the accident. We have traveled all over the country (The Mayo Clinic, The Michigan Neurological Head Pain Institute, Andrews Institute, and The Gulf Coast Pain Rehabilitation Center, to name a few) seeking diagnosis and a treatment plan. He was administered over 40 different medications and had multiple procedures (surgical nerve block injections and several radio-frequency ablations) that offered little relief. Finally we found a neurosurgeon familiar with Paul’s type of neck and ligament injury. The neurosurgeon fused his spine at C1 and C2, helping Paul tremendously. This surgery corrected the ligament instability and restored the blood flow to his brain. The surgery treated the majority of his symptoms that ranged from cognitive impairment, memory issues, and debilitating daily migraines. Paul still suffers from chronic head and neck pain, but we are grateful for the vast improvements in his health and in the fact that the pain is more manageable.
Needless to say, because of this accident and Paul’s level of pain, he was unable to work or even concentrate for long periods of time (concentration is pretty important when dealing with heavy machinery, especially saws!). To add insult to injury, in December of 2012, Paul’s dormant wood shop on Navy Boulevard was robbed. The thieves stole all of Paul’s woodworking tools accrued over his 13 year career. (The tools behind him in this photo are all gone.) This robbery amounted to a loss of thousands of dollars in tools and equipment. Since Paul was self-employed, this was his entire livelihood.
Due to being unable to work, Paul sold his vehicle, most of his valuables, and applied for Medical Disability for which he was approved. As you can imagine, Paul has a litany of medical bills, upwards of $250,000.00, but the City of Pensacola is staunchly sticking to their "Sovereign Immunity" policy and refusing to pay these bills.
Last week, Paul's doctors have given him the words for which he has been waiting for over three years: "Your neck surgery has fused nicely and it’s now time for you to try to go back to work."
He has been encouraged by his doctors to work through the existing pain, to stay occupied, and to return to what he loves. He has vowed to not let the last three years take any more from him. He retains his smile, his hope, his positive attitude, his passion, his creative intuition, and the possession that he holds so dear and that was too heavy to steal-- his table saw.
As of today, Paul has had severe head and neck pain for 1055 days in a row. We undersand that there is little we can do to break this pain cycle, but we can use our voices to break the cycle of neglect by the City of Pensacola.
We can help him in the following ways:
1- Write to the City Council, ask them to take responsibility, do the right thing and pay Paul's medical bills! Feel free to use any of the paragraph below.
jcannada-[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted],
[email redacted]
Dear City of Pensacola Representatives,
I write to you as a friend of Mr. Paul Galusha to urge you to honor your responsibility for the Pensacola employee's car accident in July 2011 that totaled Mr. Galusha's car and caused him serious injury that has drastically altered his life, and that of his family.
As you likely are aware, he has suffered at least 1055 consistent days of severely debilitating head and neck pain. His medical bills are extensive, and his loss of earnings have had a significant impact on him and his children, as well as his wife. Mr. Galusha's life has been permanently altered due to your employee's negligence. I urge you to settle any lawsuit that may be pending, or otherwise fairly compensate Paul for his out-of-pocket medical expenses, lost wages, as well as his physical pain and emotional suffering. Your continued failure to remedy this situation is ethically and morally reprehensible, and an embarrassment to public employees and city officials throughout the country.
2-He needs donations for new/or functioning used tools. (See wish list)
3-He needs donations for a reliable used work vehicle.
4-He needs donations to hire a hand to help get his new shop in order.
5-He needs donations to pay the thousands of dollars in out of pocket medical expenses.
6-Most importantly, he needs a pat on the back, a thumbs up, or a high-five, for working so hard to get through this. He is my personal hero-- I high-five him every day!
Thank you, friends and community, for spreading the word, and helping in any way that you can.
Sincerely,
Valerie George and Paul Galusha
To view Pauls work, please visit www.paulgalushadesign.com.
Organizer
Valerie George
Organizer
Pensacola, FL
