Dave Vaughn

Dave Vaughn injured his spinal cord while in Newport Beach, CA where he was spending Thanksgiving with his kids, their spouses, and his grandchildren.  Dave was bodyboarding with his son and son-in-law when he was tossed by a wave, hitting his head and neck. This caused a fracture of the vertebrae and a spinal cord injury. He was helped out of the water and thankfully the paramedics responded quickly. Dave was taken to Orange County Global Medical Center, which specializes in head/neck trauma. He had two surgeries following the accident, one on the back of his neck, to help clear space for his spinal cord to heal, and one on the front of his neck to help stabilize his vertebrae. Dave is currently in the ICU and will likely spend 3-4 weeks in California, to complete several levels of recovery and rehabilitation before he is able to return home to Spokane, Washington.

We are so thankful my parents have a great medical plan. As of now, it does not appear that there will be a large financial burden related to medical care. We realize this is a huge gift. The unexpected financial expense will come from the extended stay in California. Our sister, Leah, lives in Costa Mesa and is due with her 3rd child next week. Although our mom will spend some time at Leah's house, we all feel the best place for her in the coming weeks will be in an Airbnb-type situation as close to our dad's new hospital as possible. As Leah and her husband share one vehicle, we also need to rent a vehicle for my mom. 

We're thankful our parents are in a place to absorb many of these expenses, but we've also had inquiries about how to help financially. Knowing how uncertain our dad's future recovery is, we want to be open to this, humbly and gratefully.