Kyle Vince TBI Recovery Fund
Donation protected
Kyle Vince was in a terrible accident while visiting Sri Lanka on Dec. 23rd, 2017, which resulted in a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
My finacé is now in the United States and has started to get the healthcare he needs to recover.
Please read more and share his amazing story..
Who is Kyle Vince:
Kyle Vince has always had a love for all the people and animals of the world, different cultures, and nature. He has spent most of his adult life exploring the world. He has been to every continent and 99 countries, while living a very frugal life to realize his dreams of becoming part of each culture he experienced. Kyle Vince knows 7 languages and strives to learn more so he can talk to everyone he meets. His life goal is to visit 100 countries, and then settle down. We had made plans for his 100th country to be Ethiopia, where we would have spent Christmas/New Year’s if it wasn’t for my own hospitalization.
Kyle Vince is very knowledgeable and intelligent, he enjoys conversing about the universe, history or any subject for hours. He loves to talk to anyone and everyone he meets for the purpose of expanding his knowledge on the world and the people of it that he loves so much. He believes that each day holds more for growth and learning.
He always has the most interesting stories to tell, such as visiting remote head hunter villages in the Philippines, traveling the middle east right after 9/11 for almost a year, hitch hiking by boat across the sea to Antarctica with the Chilean army, and even being chased by a rhino in Nepal.
My fiancé is the kind of person that sees a man in need and feels a strong desire to help. One time in India he saw a blind busker that he spent the day helping collect money for by using his charm and bright smile. He is the person that brings bags of toys to an orphanage in Sri Lanka to put a smile on the children’s faces, and LifeStraw’s to people in India so they could purify their water without walking for miles every day. He is the person that makes sure he buys enough food to get leftovers so he can feed the starving animals on the streets.
For many years Kyle Vince looked for the perfect spot to settle down. His ideal home would have constant music on the streets he could dance salsa to, a farm with lots of animals, and tropical weather where he could grow his own fruit trees and bask in the sunlight with his friends. He never really found that “perfect” spot, but after spending last summer in Sweden, he fell in love with my home country. As soon as we got back from our trip to Ethiopia our plan was to settle down, make a home together, and begin the rest of our lives.
What happened:
My fiancé was on a visa run from India, where I decided to stay with my 6 month visa and wait for him to return while I rehabilitated from my own traumatic hospitalization and 2 medical evacuations in October/November.
On the 23rd of December 2017, Kyle Vince was struck by a bus while crossing the road towards the beach in Ahangama, Sri Lanka. Everyone who’s been here knows how recklessly the bus drivers drive here. According to witnesses, he fell to the ground and got up in a daze when people rushed towards him. He seemed to have lost his memory immediately in the crash and left the scene running scared, confused, and in shock, bleeding from his head.
Since it is more than usual here in the Southern Province’s beach towns that tourists are both high and drunk during daytime (although the doctor's blood tests revealed Kyle Vince had no drugs or alcohol in his system), the people who saw the accident were cautious and he was never captured, never helped, and never sent to the hospital, even though many people witnessed him wandering around confused, in and around the jungle and streets, dripping blood down his head, shirtless and shoeless.
After 7 hours of wandering around in the jungle, hiding in confusion, and most probably extremely scared, he stumbled out into the street again, maybe to seek help, only to be struck again by another vehicle. This time Kyle Vince did not get up, the accident knocked him unconscious. An ambulance was called and a blood transfusion was given on the street, as the people who gathered explained to the paramedics that they had seen him bleeding for hours as he wandered the streets until the final accident.
Kyle Vince was brought in to the hospital unconscious, with a Traumatic Brain Injury, and immediately had a drainage tube operated into the right side of his chest because of his multiple rib fractures, lung contusion and inner bleedings. He also had a drainage put into his scull because of acute subdural haemorrhage and a bolt was inserted into his right frontal lobe to measure the pressure. After 24 hours the pressure in his brain was unmanageable with medical treatments and Vince had to undergo a decompressive craniectomy and was held paralyzed and on a ventilator for 72 hours.
Kyle Vince’s sister was the last to talk to him, 4 hours before the first accident, and he told her that he would call her the next day. Since neither his family or I had heard from Kyle Vince for a few days (which isn’t completely unusual for him, sometimes he just goes off grid) we all began to worry. It was Christmas December 25th, when his mother, knowing he would always call her on that day and he had not, decided to call the US embassy in Sri Lanka.
On the 27th his mother was informed by the embassy that there was an unidentified Caucasian male in a coma at the Galle hospital, after a traffic accident, that fit Kyle Vince’s description. He had had no identification on him during the accident. As soon as I received the news, I was on the next flight over from India and immediately identified my fiancé. I sat with him while he lay there unresponsive and cried for hours while I held his hand until I fell asleep by his side.
As I was at the hospital, a new CT scan was made, under which I myself stood and ventilated him by hand. I was still in complete and utter shock to find him in a coma, and suddenly having his life in my hands was the most intense emotion I had ever felt. The CT scan showed that his swelling had gone down and the doctors felt comfortable enough to take him off the paralyzing drugs.
When the doctors took him of the paralyzing drugs, they quickly had to take him of the ventilator as well since they could see that he wanted to breath on his own. He wanted to live! He also started reacting to pain - needles and pinching.
Unfortunately, Kyle Vince had already developed a ventilator associated pneumonia, and was put on strong antibiotics as well as paralyzing drugs and painkillers to make his pain from the broken ribs and multiple operations manageable. But he wouldn’t let them put him back on the ventilator.
When I went to see him during visiting hours, almost every time I started talking to him, he greeted me with opening his eyes and moving his facial muscles a little. Since I didn’t get much time to spend with him each day (less than 2 hours spread out over 3 visiting opportunities), I brought him a mp3 player where I put his favorite music and audiobooks, and I also asked his friends to send me voice messages to put on the player, to continue stimulating his brain while I couldn’t be in the room with him.
On the morning of the January 29th, I woke up to a message saying they had moved my fiancé from the ICU where he had spent 35 days, out to the general ward. He had just recovered from his bad ventilator related pneumonia and had been put on new antibiotics for another infection in his body. The general ward at the governmental hospital is outdoors, with no walls, no mosquito nets, no air condition and unlimited visitors during the day in a very hot and humid environment. His new infection would have spread like a wildfire in that environment while being in +30 degrees celsius that is Sri Lanka’s average temperature at this time of the year.
His sister, who had also come to Sri Lanka after the accident, and I panicked. Within half a day we had paid the bill and admitted Vince to a private hospital where he was put in a private room, since he wasn’t in need of 24/7 supervision by a nurse and doctor as long as one of us stayed with him in the room at all times.
When he was in the ICU of the governmental hospital, we could only spend a little over 2 hours with him, between 3 different visiting hours of the day. Now we stay with him every hour of the day, talk to him, stimulate his brain and memories with music and stories. We have started the physiotherapy that is much needed for him to walk again. Vince has gotten a PEG tube operated into his stomach to get more nutrients directly into his stomach, since he started to wither away in the governmental hospital. We have great hope that the energy that the larger amount of food they now can give him will help his healing process. The pressure sores that he developed in Karapatiya is also healing and will no longer need to be operated on. When Vince’s body is strong enough again for a big operation, in hopefully 1,5 months, an cranioplasty (artificial skull attachment surgery) will take place.
Unfortunately, after searching for countless hours Vince's bag which carried all of possesions is still lost. This included his clothing, computer and phone.
44 days after the accident, Kyle Vince is still unconscious, but now stable enough and infection free, so we can put him on a stretcher flight back home. When he went into the hospital, the doctors had little hope, and told us he was only a 3 on the “Glasgow Coma Scale”, but his strive for life pushed him to slowly recover, until he was even able to open his eyes and grab my hand when I hold his, and each day brings new hope. The neurologists have told us his current GCS is fluctuating between 7 and 8! Today has been a good day for Kyle Vince, he has had his eyes open most of the day and seemed to have more energy than the last few days so we were able to take him out in the wheelchair for an hour.
Our ultimate hope is that being home with his family will help speed his recovery.
Kyle Vince does not have medical insurance, so a medical evacuation will cost us very much, but we have to get him back home to his family and better health care in the United States.
Costs we are asking for your help with:
Governmental hospital in Galle, Sri Lanka, 23rd December through 29th January - $10,600
Private hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka ,29th January through 11th February - $6248
Stretcher flight with Emirates Colombo - Dubai - Los Angeles and ambulance Los Angeles – Las Vegas - $64.425
The total cost in and for getting my finacé home from Sri Lanka was $81.273
The rest of the money set in the goal will be used to (when Kyle Vince has recovered enough), make his familie's house wheelchair accessible, extra hours of physical therapy, possibly getting a service dog etc. We will see in time and update along the way.
Proof:
Medical bill Karapatiya Teaching Hospital 23 Dec 17 – 29 Jan 18, Rs 1.638.470 - $10.600
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1R8pfuMT0pikbRERmb6b7dNz8pA4ZzgLK
Discharge summary Karapatiya Teaching Hospital 29 Jan 18
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PuVKamCPMjc1h0Y2tfOXo1akJXTWlQQVlpaTdqb0dKNEY4/view?usp=drivesdk
Medical bill Asiri Central Hospital 29 Jan 18 – 11 Feb 18, Rs 970.130 - $6248
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vL2VlexBzH5xKztaqkCR74mv6-hy802V/view
Invoice Medical Evacuation Colombo - Las Vegas 11 Feb 18, $64.425
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PuVKamCPMjQVdIbV9oNmxPNmdEdEJYaUUxaktGcW1LMEdv/view?usp=drivesdk
1 Sri Lankan Rupee equals 0.0065 USD (5 Feb 2018)
Important:
If anyone has doubts about the credibility of this fundraiser, please feel free to contact me on [email redacted] and I can provide more proof.
I will try and update this page regularly.
I am indescribably heartbroken having the love of my life in this state. I want to take him home and make sure he gets the proper care and rehabilitation that he needs to be able to live a good life again. I’m strongly hoping and wishing that we’ll one day have our little farm with all the animals and kids we always wanted.
Please, any amount that you can donate, even a very small one, is well needed and greatly appreciated. Regardless if you have any money to donate or not, please help me share this post online and make a big difference for someone who deserves, and really wants, to live.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for any kind of help you can provide us with.
And please remember to always take care of the ones you love, life is very precious and fragile
Jacqueline Wisell
My finacé is now in the United States and has started to get the healthcare he needs to recover.
Please read more and share his amazing story..
Who is Kyle Vince:
Kyle Vince has always had a love for all the people and animals of the world, different cultures, and nature. He has spent most of his adult life exploring the world. He has been to every continent and 99 countries, while living a very frugal life to realize his dreams of becoming part of each culture he experienced. Kyle Vince knows 7 languages and strives to learn more so he can talk to everyone he meets. His life goal is to visit 100 countries, and then settle down. We had made plans for his 100th country to be Ethiopia, where we would have spent Christmas/New Year’s if it wasn’t for my own hospitalization.
Kyle Vince is very knowledgeable and intelligent, he enjoys conversing about the universe, history or any subject for hours. He loves to talk to anyone and everyone he meets for the purpose of expanding his knowledge on the world and the people of it that he loves so much. He believes that each day holds more for growth and learning.
He always has the most interesting stories to tell, such as visiting remote head hunter villages in the Philippines, traveling the middle east right after 9/11 for almost a year, hitch hiking by boat across the sea to Antarctica with the Chilean army, and even being chased by a rhino in Nepal.
My fiancé is the kind of person that sees a man in need and feels a strong desire to help. One time in India he saw a blind busker that he spent the day helping collect money for by using his charm and bright smile. He is the person that brings bags of toys to an orphanage in Sri Lanka to put a smile on the children’s faces, and LifeStraw’s to people in India so they could purify their water without walking for miles every day. He is the person that makes sure he buys enough food to get leftovers so he can feed the starving animals on the streets.
For many years Kyle Vince looked for the perfect spot to settle down. His ideal home would have constant music on the streets he could dance salsa to, a farm with lots of animals, and tropical weather where he could grow his own fruit trees and bask in the sunlight with his friends. He never really found that “perfect” spot, but after spending last summer in Sweden, he fell in love with my home country. As soon as we got back from our trip to Ethiopia our plan was to settle down, make a home together, and begin the rest of our lives.
What happened:
My fiancé was on a visa run from India, where I decided to stay with my 6 month visa and wait for him to return while I rehabilitated from my own traumatic hospitalization and 2 medical evacuations in October/November.
On the 23rd of December 2017, Kyle Vince was struck by a bus while crossing the road towards the beach in Ahangama, Sri Lanka. Everyone who’s been here knows how recklessly the bus drivers drive here. According to witnesses, he fell to the ground and got up in a daze when people rushed towards him. He seemed to have lost his memory immediately in the crash and left the scene running scared, confused, and in shock, bleeding from his head.
Since it is more than usual here in the Southern Province’s beach towns that tourists are both high and drunk during daytime (although the doctor's blood tests revealed Kyle Vince had no drugs or alcohol in his system), the people who saw the accident were cautious and he was never captured, never helped, and never sent to the hospital, even though many people witnessed him wandering around confused, in and around the jungle and streets, dripping blood down his head, shirtless and shoeless.
After 7 hours of wandering around in the jungle, hiding in confusion, and most probably extremely scared, he stumbled out into the street again, maybe to seek help, only to be struck again by another vehicle. This time Kyle Vince did not get up, the accident knocked him unconscious. An ambulance was called and a blood transfusion was given on the street, as the people who gathered explained to the paramedics that they had seen him bleeding for hours as he wandered the streets until the final accident.
Kyle Vince was brought in to the hospital unconscious, with a Traumatic Brain Injury, and immediately had a drainage tube operated into the right side of his chest because of his multiple rib fractures, lung contusion and inner bleedings. He also had a drainage put into his scull because of acute subdural haemorrhage and a bolt was inserted into his right frontal lobe to measure the pressure. After 24 hours the pressure in his brain was unmanageable with medical treatments and Vince had to undergo a decompressive craniectomy and was held paralyzed and on a ventilator for 72 hours.
Kyle Vince’s sister was the last to talk to him, 4 hours before the first accident, and he told her that he would call her the next day. Since neither his family or I had heard from Kyle Vince for a few days (which isn’t completely unusual for him, sometimes he just goes off grid) we all began to worry. It was Christmas December 25th, when his mother, knowing he would always call her on that day and he had not, decided to call the US embassy in Sri Lanka.
On the 27th his mother was informed by the embassy that there was an unidentified Caucasian male in a coma at the Galle hospital, after a traffic accident, that fit Kyle Vince’s description. He had had no identification on him during the accident. As soon as I received the news, I was on the next flight over from India and immediately identified my fiancé. I sat with him while he lay there unresponsive and cried for hours while I held his hand until I fell asleep by his side.
As I was at the hospital, a new CT scan was made, under which I myself stood and ventilated him by hand. I was still in complete and utter shock to find him in a coma, and suddenly having his life in my hands was the most intense emotion I had ever felt. The CT scan showed that his swelling had gone down and the doctors felt comfortable enough to take him off the paralyzing drugs.
When the doctors took him of the paralyzing drugs, they quickly had to take him of the ventilator as well since they could see that he wanted to breath on his own. He wanted to live! He also started reacting to pain - needles and pinching.
Unfortunately, Kyle Vince had already developed a ventilator associated pneumonia, and was put on strong antibiotics as well as paralyzing drugs and painkillers to make his pain from the broken ribs and multiple operations manageable. But he wouldn’t let them put him back on the ventilator.
When I went to see him during visiting hours, almost every time I started talking to him, he greeted me with opening his eyes and moving his facial muscles a little. Since I didn’t get much time to spend with him each day (less than 2 hours spread out over 3 visiting opportunities), I brought him a mp3 player where I put his favorite music and audiobooks, and I also asked his friends to send me voice messages to put on the player, to continue stimulating his brain while I couldn’t be in the room with him.
On the morning of the January 29th, I woke up to a message saying they had moved my fiancé from the ICU where he had spent 35 days, out to the general ward. He had just recovered from his bad ventilator related pneumonia and had been put on new antibiotics for another infection in his body. The general ward at the governmental hospital is outdoors, with no walls, no mosquito nets, no air condition and unlimited visitors during the day in a very hot and humid environment. His new infection would have spread like a wildfire in that environment while being in +30 degrees celsius that is Sri Lanka’s average temperature at this time of the year.
His sister, who had also come to Sri Lanka after the accident, and I panicked. Within half a day we had paid the bill and admitted Vince to a private hospital where he was put in a private room, since he wasn’t in need of 24/7 supervision by a nurse and doctor as long as one of us stayed with him in the room at all times.
When he was in the ICU of the governmental hospital, we could only spend a little over 2 hours with him, between 3 different visiting hours of the day. Now we stay with him every hour of the day, talk to him, stimulate his brain and memories with music and stories. We have started the physiotherapy that is much needed for him to walk again. Vince has gotten a PEG tube operated into his stomach to get more nutrients directly into his stomach, since he started to wither away in the governmental hospital. We have great hope that the energy that the larger amount of food they now can give him will help his healing process. The pressure sores that he developed in Karapatiya is also healing and will no longer need to be operated on. When Vince’s body is strong enough again for a big operation, in hopefully 1,5 months, an cranioplasty (artificial skull attachment surgery) will take place.
Unfortunately, after searching for countless hours Vince's bag which carried all of possesions is still lost. This included his clothing, computer and phone.
44 days after the accident, Kyle Vince is still unconscious, but now stable enough and infection free, so we can put him on a stretcher flight back home. When he went into the hospital, the doctors had little hope, and told us he was only a 3 on the “Glasgow Coma Scale”, but his strive for life pushed him to slowly recover, until he was even able to open his eyes and grab my hand when I hold his, and each day brings new hope. The neurologists have told us his current GCS is fluctuating between 7 and 8! Today has been a good day for Kyle Vince, he has had his eyes open most of the day and seemed to have more energy than the last few days so we were able to take him out in the wheelchair for an hour.
Our ultimate hope is that being home with his family will help speed his recovery.
Kyle Vince does not have medical insurance, so a medical evacuation will cost us very much, but we have to get him back home to his family and better health care in the United States.
Costs we are asking for your help with:
Governmental hospital in Galle, Sri Lanka, 23rd December through 29th January - $10,600
Private hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka ,29th January through 11th February - $6248
Stretcher flight with Emirates Colombo - Dubai - Los Angeles and ambulance Los Angeles – Las Vegas - $64.425
The total cost in and for getting my finacé home from Sri Lanka was $81.273
The rest of the money set in the goal will be used to (when Kyle Vince has recovered enough), make his familie's house wheelchair accessible, extra hours of physical therapy, possibly getting a service dog etc. We will see in time and update along the way.
Proof:
Medical bill Karapatiya Teaching Hospital 23 Dec 17 – 29 Jan 18, Rs 1.638.470 - $10.600
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1R8pfuMT0pikbRERmb6b7dNz8pA4ZzgLK
Discharge summary Karapatiya Teaching Hospital 29 Jan 18
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PuVKamCPMjc1h0Y2tfOXo1akJXTWlQQVlpaTdqb0dKNEY4/view?usp=drivesdk
Medical bill Asiri Central Hospital 29 Jan 18 – 11 Feb 18, Rs 970.130 - $6248
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vL2VlexBzH5xKztaqkCR74mv6-hy802V/view
Invoice Medical Evacuation Colombo - Las Vegas 11 Feb 18, $64.425
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PuVKamCPMjQVdIbV9oNmxPNmdEdEJYaUUxaktGcW1LMEdv/view?usp=drivesdk
1 Sri Lankan Rupee equals 0.0065 USD (5 Feb 2018)
Important:
If anyone has doubts about the credibility of this fundraiser, please feel free to contact me on [email redacted] and I can provide more proof.
I will try and update this page regularly.
I am indescribably heartbroken having the love of my life in this state. I want to take him home and make sure he gets the proper care and rehabilitation that he needs to be able to live a good life again. I’m strongly hoping and wishing that we’ll one day have our little farm with all the animals and kids we always wanted.
Please, any amount that you can donate, even a very small one, is well needed and greatly appreciated. Regardless if you have any money to donate or not, please help me share this post online and make a big difference for someone who deserves, and really wants, to live.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for any kind of help you can provide us with.
And please remember to always take care of the ones you love, life is very precious and fragile
Jacqueline Wisell
Organizer and beneficiary
Jacqueline Wisell
Organizer
Henderson, NV
Denise Vinci
Beneficiary
