A Leg Up for Andrew

Andrew, his mom, and aunt Kathy.


If you don’t know Andrew, you should know that everyone who meets him instantly likes him. What a nice guy, you’d say to yourself. Andrew is the kind of guy who opens the door for a lady, or pulls over to help a stranger having car trouble. He is respectful and polite, which he attributes to spending many of his childhood years in Medina, Ohio. He is the ultimate jokester, and loves to play pranks on his friends and family. 


Andrew is 24-year-old Broward College student from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. He works full-time as a machinist at Weschler Instruments in order to put himself through school. He has a promising career at Weschler, and absolutely loves his job, which allows him to indulge in his scientific, analytical side. He dreams of being a mechanical engineer and hopes to attend the program at the University of Florida to obtain his degree. With the overwhelming expense of paying for school out-of-pocket, he cannot afford a car and uses a motorcycle as his main mode of transportation. The decision to purchase and use a motorcycle was an economical one, but he has been slowly putting away money to buy a used car so he can be safer on the road. 


On August 31, 2015, Andrew left work and at 4:40pm, reached the intersection at West McNab Road and just before University Drive.  As he drove through, a careless driver made an illegal left turn. Seeing the oncoming car, Andrew did his best to avoid a collision, but the driver seemingly made no attempt to brake. If the driver had tapped his brakes at any point, Andrew may have been able to avoid him completely. Unfortunately, the front tire of Andrew’s motorcycle was struck by the car, sending him sailing through the air off the bike and then tumbling down the road. He rolled at such an uncontrollable high speed that his leg was severed when he hit a metal bus bench. His body was flung into the bench with such force that it was uprooted from the concrete, leaving twisted metal and other scraps strewn around the road and sidewalk. 

A link to an article about Andrew's accident, with a video of the scene.

In those seconds, Andrew’s life was irreversibly changed. Lying on the road, completely aware of his surroundings and and of the fact that he was missing his left leg, he called his mom so she wouldn’t worry when he didn't come home–he also called his girlfriend and his best friend. Even in his critical situation, he was thinking of others before himself.

He was bleeding out quickly and realized he couldn’t move. He screamed for help and a good samaritan (who we later discovered is actually a friend of Andrew's close friend Chris) came to his aid, attempting to use his belt as a tourniquet. It was too loose to stop the bleeding, but a nurse walking by the street refused to help. 

It seemed that Andrew was fading fast, despite the good samaritan's efforts to keep him awake. The seconds that Andrew lied on the road seemed like an eternity to him. Help was called, but would have been at the least, a few minutes away, except... In a miraculous turn, BSO reserve deputy Rich Griffin answered the call and happened to already be at the intersection! He rushed over to help, knowing exactly what to do. As a Vietnam veteran, Mr. Griffin had experience with traumatic injuries like Andrew's and expertly reached into Andrew’s wound to pinch the artery and prevent him from bleeding out. The paramedics and doctors agree that without Mr. Griffin’s skillful and heroic intervention, Andrew would not have survived.

He was then air-lifted to Broward Health North, where he underwent an emergency surgery to stabilize his condition. He has undergone three surgeries to date, but the doctors have still not been able to close his wounds, which include the loss of his left leg below the knee and the first two toes on his right foot (despite the fact that he was wearing protective motorcycle shoes). With motorcycle accidents like Andrew’s, the risk of infection is very high, given the unclean conditions of the road and large amount of debris that can get into the wounds. If Andrew’s wounds are closed without being properly cleaned, he could lose the rest of his leg or possibly his life. The doctors are being cautious, to make sure this does not happen.
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Andrew is very lucky to be alive, but he is not out of the woods yet.

We are hoping that he is able to keep as much length in his left leg and reduce the amount of bone loss in his right foot, to ensure that he can be fitted comfortably with a prosthetic leg and still be able to walk and drive with his right foot. This will restore his independence, and help him keep his quality of life, which is the best outcome we could ask for.

Despite his severe injuries, Andrew remains incredibly positive. As his nurses wheeled him out of his first surgery on Monday night, he seemed excited at the prospect of finishing his studies and designing his own prosthesis. He was grateful to have survived and was very happy to see his parents and girlfriend. Above all, he felt extremely fortunate to have his arms and brain as these are vital tools to a mechanical engineer. "Thank goodness for gloves," he said. 

His strength is inspiring in the face of the challenges that lie ahead of him. The course of his life may have been altered, but he is determined to complete his goals. He wants to finish the semester and preserve his 4.0 GPA. He doesn’t want his injuries to slow him down or hurt his chances for success. He knows he can still get what he wants out of life, even if he has to work twice as hard. That's where we come in: his family and loved ones are determined to make this happen!

We want to ensure that Andrew can keep his positive outlook. The accident has not taken Andrew's sense of humor (he chose the title for this campaign :D). He has befriended his nurses and keeps a smile on his face as much as he can. It hurts us to see such a wonderful person go through this ordeal, but he is handling it beautifully.

More than the emotional impact of the loss of his leg, we are afraid that the burden of his medical bills will affect his ability to focus on his recovery. We want to make sure that he can devote his energy toward staying strong through the excruciating pain he is feeling, rather than worrying about how his medical bills and prosthetic leg will be paid for–the cost of which, at this point, seems overwhelming.

Andrew, the day after the accident.

If you can help even a little, it will go a long way. If only to remind him that there are people rooting for him to get through this. He will to return to work and complete his degree, he just needs a leg up to do it.


Andrew with his mom and dad at his kindergarten graduation.