Help Jon get back on his feet

On Friday, December 10, 2021, I got a call that no parent ever wants to receive. Our son Jonathon was in an accident. He was hit by a car while walking through a crosswalk.

 

I couldn’t imagine him having to go through such a traumatic thing when he’s already gone through so much at only 20 years old. Jon was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was just in middle school. If he was to ever end up in the hospital while away at college, I would have guessed diabetes, never this. In true Jonathon fashion, he refused an ambulance ride and instead took an Uber to the ER, because he was worried about his parents having to pay a huge ambulance bill. This kid who is so selfless and cares so much for everyone else was sitting in the emergency room without his family by his side, and trying to put on a brave face. As a parent, I wanted to immediately be there holding his hand, but as many of you in the Midwest know, practically the whole state was shut down with a snowstorm. So, we had to settle for phone calls.

 

He described the accident in detail and choked back tears when he told me… how he saw the vehicle through the corner of his eye, and it was like everything went in slow motion from there. When he realized the car was going to hit him, he thought, “so this is it… this is the end.” He sounded defeated – I had never heard this type of emotion from him before. He described it as first being afraid, then the world stopping around him, and finally a calming acceptance. That calm lasted only a millisecond before the car collided with his body, and he realized that he was still alive, but was thrown by the impact and was now tumbling across the road. He had another ‘slow-motion moment’, and thought, “if I land the wrong way, or my head hits the wrong thing, I won’t come out of this alive, and I’ll never see my mom again.” Everything goes black.

 

Fast-forward through police, ambulances, first responders, paramedics, emergency rooms, and phone calls, prayers, answered prayers, and prayers of thanks…. To find that the kid who had accepted his own fate in his mind, mere hours ago, was discharged from the hospital. He walked away (albeit on crutches and in a boot) with just broken bones, cuts, scratches, and bruises. He does have a long road ahead of him, as he has to meet with the orthopedic surgeon to determine if he needs surgery and get the boot replaced with a cast, meet with another doctor to find out what needs to be done about his broken nose, and meet with his diabetic team to try to prevent complications. All things considered, I thank God that it wasn’t worse.

 

So why the Go-Fund-Me? Well, he’s been advised to retain an attorney so that they can work on his behalf to make sure his medical bills get covered. (I can’t imagine the crippling medical debt that he’d be left with). Apparently, attorneys are expensive (who knew?), and he’s just a college kid. He simply cannot afford either expense: the attorney or the medical bills. He’ll also need to make arrangements to get to school. He normally walks multiple miles to and from classes every day, which he’d probably attempt, but it would be quite difficult in a cast and with crutches, especially in the winter. Lastly, because he’s a type 1 diabetic, and he’s sustained injuries to his foot, he’s going to need a lot of proactive medical attention and monitoring of blood sugars to make sure that he doesn’t lose that foot to amputation as so many diabetics do.

Never having made a Go-Fund-Me, I googled ‘how to write a go-fund-me request.’ Well, let me tell you that if you’re not mentally/emotionally prepared to be crying all night, don’t ever google that. After nearly two hours of reading others’ requests, and a couple of donations of my own made (don’t tell my husband), I feel humbled and so so so grateful that my kid is still here and that my go-fund-me request isn’t nearly as dire as others. That being said, if you’re thinking about donating to Jon but ultimately decide not to, please consider donating to another worthwhile cause; there are so many out there. If you’re on the fence about donating and ultimately decide to go ahead and do it (thank you so much), feel free to send me a message with the name of another campaign that touches your heart, and if he doesn’t need everything that is received, we can re-gift your donation to that cause. If you’re not prepared to ‘donate’, but want to make sure that he has what he needs to recover in the meantime…. Feel free to send me a message if you’d like to ‘loan’ him money to be paid back to you when the attorney settles up all of his medical bills & recovery costs. Lastly, if you feel called to help out in any of these ways, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I know that Jon will appreciate any help he receives, and I as his mom will be so thankful for helping to ease his burden.

 

No amount is too small. Anything will help in his recovery and keep him healthy and able to continue going to school. Prayers for healing and protection are especially appreciated. Thank you all for reading!