Austin Stauffer - medical bills fundraiser
Donation protected
MAN DOWN
Greetings Vail Lax and Colorado lacrosse extended family. Many of you know Vail Lax coach Austin Stauffer. He's coached many of our kids over the past several years with the Vail Valley Lacrosse Club. If you've been lucky enough to have him as a team leader or have faced one of his squads from the opposing bench, you understand and appreciate the quality of his character, his commitment to sportsmanlike play, the frequency of his smile and above all else, his ability to bring the best out of his teams while also keeping them laughing.
Recently Austin suffered a serious neck injury while waterskiing. Essentially, he broke his neck and suffered a potentially disastrous spinal cord injury. He was moved to Denver almost immediately, where he underwent surgery to fuse his C5 and C6 vertebrae, which were pinching his spinal cord and restricting the flow of spinal fluid. At the time, he had lost feeling in his extremities . Given his circumstances, the surgery promised only a 10% success rate. Miraculously (there's no other word,) upon completion of the surgery, he regained feeling and function almost immediately.
Austin spent 6 days in the ICU before being transferred to Craig Hospital in Denver, a world-renowned rehabilitation hospital that exclusively specializes in the neuro-rehabilitation and research of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and brain injury (BI). Austin's road to recovery will be long and complicated. He's currently working with a team of five specialists as he relearns how to walk, which apparently relies a lot on your toes doing what your brain tells them to do. At the moment, those signals are fuzzy and Austin's toes aren't as coachable as he'd like. But he IS seeing improvement and is walking without a walker, which is yet another miracle.
How long is he going to be at Craig? As long as it takes. Until he reaches his goal and his doctors are satisfied. In the meantime, his wife Marissa will need to set up residence in Denver in order to be as close as possible.
As adults, we all know what this means; an insurance battle, mounting hospital bills, a reduction in income and a year's (at least) worth of unpredictable expenses. Austin's friends hope to raise enough to help offset his medical bills and while also relieving the day-to-day financial concerns of he and Marissa as they navigate this unexpected setback. Their focus should be 100% on recovery, not on struggling to meet their mortgage. At their request, funds not needed or used will be donated to the lifesaving team that kept him safe.
if you're a lacrosse coach or family, you know that when we're a man down it means that we need to find a way to adjust; to tighten the game plan and fill in the void. For as long as necessary until we're back at full strength. That's where the Stauffer family is right now.
Thank you in advance for giving what you can to help while he and his family find their footing.
Gratefully and lovingly -
Friends of Austin Stauffer
Greetings Vail Lax and Colorado lacrosse extended family. Many of you know Vail Lax coach Austin Stauffer. He's coached many of our kids over the past several years with the Vail Valley Lacrosse Club. If you've been lucky enough to have him as a team leader or have faced one of his squads from the opposing bench, you understand and appreciate the quality of his character, his commitment to sportsmanlike play, the frequency of his smile and above all else, his ability to bring the best out of his teams while also keeping them laughing.
Recently Austin suffered a serious neck injury while waterskiing. Essentially, he broke his neck and suffered a potentially disastrous spinal cord injury. He was moved to Denver almost immediately, where he underwent surgery to fuse his C5 and C6 vertebrae, which were pinching his spinal cord and restricting the flow of spinal fluid. At the time, he had lost feeling in his extremities . Given his circumstances, the surgery promised only a 10% success rate. Miraculously (there's no other word,) upon completion of the surgery, he regained feeling and function almost immediately.
Austin spent 6 days in the ICU before being transferred to Craig Hospital in Denver, a world-renowned rehabilitation hospital that exclusively specializes in the neuro-rehabilitation and research of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and brain injury (BI). Austin's road to recovery will be long and complicated. He's currently working with a team of five specialists as he relearns how to walk, which apparently relies a lot on your toes doing what your brain tells them to do. At the moment, those signals are fuzzy and Austin's toes aren't as coachable as he'd like. But he IS seeing improvement and is walking without a walker, which is yet another miracle.
How long is he going to be at Craig? As long as it takes. Until he reaches his goal and his doctors are satisfied. In the meantime, his wife Marissa will need to set up residence in Denver in order to be as close as possible.
As adults, we all know what this means; an insurance battle, mounting hospital bills, a reduction in income and a year's (at least) worth of unpredictable expenses. Austin's friends hope to raise enough to help offset his medical bills and while also relieving the day-to-day financial concerns of he and Marissa as they navigate this unexpected setback. Their focus should be 100% on recovery, not on struggling to meet their mortgage. At their request, funds not needed or used will be donated to the lifesaving team that kept him safe.
if you're a lacrosse coach or family, you know that when we're a man down it means that we need to find a way to adjust; to tighten the game plan and fill in the void. For as long as necessary until we're back at full strength. That's where the Stauffer family is right now.
Thank you in advance for giving what you can to help while he and his family find their footing.
Gratefully and lovingly -
Friends of Austin Stauffer
Organizer and beneficiary
Mike McCormack
Organizer
Eagle, CO
Marissa Stauffer
Beneficiary
