As a mother, when you get a phone call that your son has had an accident and is unable to feel his legs, you feel desperation, dispair, and heartbreak. The next thing you feel is hope and determination that things will turn out okay, and that you will do anything humanly possible to make that happen.

While it is very difficult to ask for help, and especially difficult to ask for money, I am doing it to help my son as any other mother in this situation would do. Your help will mean the world to us. Here is our story:

Nolan is many things you can label such as a teacher, writer, musician, skiier, hiker, fisherman. He is also many things that are hard to describe such as an amazing and compassionate person, a loving son and brother, and a loyal and trustworthy friend.

 He grew up in Truckee hiking, biking, camping, skiing, fishing, and palying and writing music.  He just graduated from CSULB with a bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing. He got his substitute teaching credential, moved home, and began substitute teaching in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District.

On one of his first days off for the summer he went with some friends to the Emerald Pools near Auburn and had a diving accident which resulted in a spinal cord injury. He was air lifted to Sutter Roseville hospital where he had a five hour surgery. He had a burst fracture in his spine and now has permanent hardware to keep it stable. He spent 4 days in their Neuro Trauma Intensive Care Unit and was then transferred to an Acute Spinal Cord Reahabilitation Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose.

While his final level of function is still unknown, he is able to get into a wheelchair with help and does have some feelings and sensations in his legs. He is working extremely hard in physical therapy every day. He has a great attitude and is looking forward to coming home to work, play and live in the real world again.

He will be coming home in a wheelchair and will need modifications for living and driving. He will have continued extensive physical therapy and may even need to re-enter another facility for more specialized help.

Your donation to this cause will help to pay for the portioin of his surgery and aftercare that insurance will not cover (like the ambulance ride from one facility to another). There wil also be on-going expenses like a wheel chair, ramps, car modifications or other transporation solutions,  continuted therapies,  and probably many other items or appointments we don't even know he needs yet.

Please help us get this amazing young man back to health so he can continue to contribute to the community he loves.