Heather and Sterlings Relocation HOPE Fund
March 20, 2008; the day that a near fatal car accident in rural Alabama forever changed the lives of Sterling and his mother, Heather. Our nephew, Sterling, was thought to be dead on three separate occasions that day. Months later he woke from a medically induced coma to learn of his numerous injuries; a punctured lung, broken femur, smashed ankle, broken elbow, crushed shoulder and a spinal injury which left him with no control of his body. Locked-in syndrome is a rare neurological disorder where there is a complete paralysis of voluntary muscles in all parts of the body except for the muscles that control eye movement. Those with locked-in syndrome are fully conscious and can think and reason, but are unable to speak, move, or care for themselves. Sterling was a High School Senior, enlisted in the Army and awaiting to ship to Basic Training after High School graduation at the time of this fateful accident. Imagine being an 18 year old, surviving being ejected from a motor vehicle, but being unable to move or speak as a result of being “locked-in”.
In recognizing that her only child defeated death and multiple odds stacked against him, Heather transitioned to not only being Sterling’s mother but his Full-Time Caregiver and Primary Advocate… his voice. They were both looking forward to his bright future and career and anticipating all that awaited them after High School Graduation. Since March 20, 2008, she has been “locked” into her new life of medical doctors, therapy sessions, medication routines, feeding tubes, drainage bags, and other preventive care measures. She has become skilled in how to prevent bed sores, learn proper muscle stretching, and bathe a six-foot 180 lb. man due to the necessity of sustaining Sterling’s life as he has no longer been able to do that for himself.
Since the accident, Heather’s stress load and the toll of being a full time caregiver for eight years has significantly impacted her life. Heather continued to work as many jobs as possible to provide for Sterling and herself. While she has occasionally had support from others and has had services in place to help Sterling, there has been a severe diminish of their quality of life and this tempo has proved to be unsustainable for both Heather and Sterling. We (her family) have coordinated to offer her a break from her unsustainable living conditions and see Heather become healthy and happy again. Additionally, we want to offer Sterling additional interaction with young adults and activities that a man his age would enjoy. Sterling often lashes out at Heather since she is the only person he sees every day while not having available a healthy outlet for his frustrations of being locked-in. Being bed ridden has made him kick and punch unexpectedly when she’s around him because there are no resources available to them in the small rural area they are currently in.
It’s time to relocate. The plan is to move Heather and Sterling to a metropolitan area in Texas to move closer to family to help with basic care; to move to a city that offers brain injury medical care; to move to an environment that allows safety and activities for her son along with adequate respite care for herself. Moving to a larger city with additional family members around will provide both of them the healthy outlets they need to both heal and find a new normal. Our dream is for Heather to find happiness in life again, and for Sterling to be able to have healthy emotional outlets that will make his life more whole.
We are excited to help for the long term; however money is short. We humbly ask your help to assist in covering the few initial relocation and medical expenses that we are simply not able to cover at this moment.
Please help us to raise:
$1,500 moving expenses
$7,000 4-month initial rental
$2,000 medical supplies
$3,000 living expenses for change
$1,500 rental ramp modifications
$15,000 to relocate out of isolation and offer new hope to Heather and Sterling. Please help us improve the quality of their lives. Please help give them the opportunity to thrive in the second chance at life that they both have before them! Thank you for your time. We truly appreciate all contributions and cherish your prayers.
March 20, 2008; the day that a near fatal car accident in rural Alabama forever changed the lives of Sterling and his mother, Heather. Our nephew, Sterling, was thought to be dead on three separate occasions that day. Months later he woke from a medically induced coma to learn of his numerous injuries; a punctured lung, broken femur, smashed ankle, broken elbow, crushed shoulder and a spinal injury which left him with no control of his body. Locked-in syndrome is a rare neurological disorder where there is a complete paralysis of voluntary muscles in all parts of the body except for the muscles that control eye movement. Those with locked-in syndrome are fully conscious and can think and reason, but are unable to speak, move, or care for themselves. Sterling was a High School Senior, enlisted in the Army and awaiting to ship to Basic Training after High School graduation at the time of this fateful accident. Imagine being an 18 year old, surviving being ejected from a motor vehicle, but being unable to move or speak as a result of being “locked-in”.
In recognizing that her only child defeated death and multiple odds stacked against him, Heather transitioned to not only being Sterling’s mother but his Full-Time Caregiver and Primary Advocate… his voice. They were both looking forward to his bright future and career and anticipating all that awaited them after High School Graduation. Since March 20, 2008, she has been “locked” into her new life of medical doctors, therapy sessions, medication routines, feeding tubes, drainage bags, and other preventive care measures. She has become skilled in how to prevent bed sores, learn proper muscle stretching, and bathe a six-foot 180 lb. man due to the necessity of sustaining Sterling’s life as he has no longer been able to do that for himself.
Since the accident, Heather’s stress load and the toll of being a full time caregiver for eight years has significantly impacted her life. Heather continued to work as many jobs as possible to provide for Sterling and herself. While she has occasionally had support from others and has had services in place to help Sterling, there has been a severe diminish of their quality of life and this tempo has proved to be unsustainable for both Heather and Sterling. We (her family) have coordinated to offer her a break from her unsustainable living conditions and see Heather become healthy and happy again. Additionally, we want to offer Sterling additional interaction with young adults and activities that a man his age would enjoy. Sterling often lashes out at Heather since she is the only person he sees every day while not having available a healthy outlet for his frustrations of being locked-in. Being bed ridden has made him kick and punch unexpectedly when she’s around him because there are no resources available to them in the small rural area they are currently in.
It’s time to relocate. The plan is to move Heather and Sterling to a metropolitan area in Texas to move closer to family to help with basic care; to move to a city that offers brain injury medical care; to move to an environment that allows safety and activities for her son along with adequate respite care for herself. Moving to a larger city with additional family members around will provide both of them the healthy outlets they need to both heal and find a new normal. Our dream is for Heather to find happiness in life again, and for Sterling to be able to have healthy emotional outlets that will make his life more whole.
We are excited to help for the long term; however money is short. We humbly ask your help to assist in covering the few initial relocation and medical expenses that we are simply not able to cover at this moment.
Please help us to raise:
$1,500 moving expenses
$7,000 4-month initial rental
$2,000 medical supplies
$3,000 living expenses for change
$1,500 rental ramp modifications
$15,000 to relocate out of isolation and offer new hope to Heather and Sterling. Please help us improve the quality of their lives. Please help give them the opportunity to thrive in the second chance at life that they both have before them! Thank you for your time. We truly appreciate all contributions and cherish your prayers.
Organizer and beneficiary
Emmitt McCurdy
Organizer
Darlene McCurdy
Beneficiary