A New Start

Starting a fundraiser for my husband, my hero John Christian. John's story starts in May 2001 with a motor cross accident that shattered his Tibial Plateau in pieces. Since then he has had about 15 surgeries to save the leg to include 2 total knee replacements with the last one being a long stem. Out of the blue in November 2022 6wks post having a very mild case of covid he developed septic arthritis in the right knee. No way to know for sure the exact cause of the infection. John became very sick very fast. He spent 9 days in the hospital receiving IV antibiotics and 2 washouts before being discharged the day before Thanksgiving. The next 6 weeks he was on continuous IV antibiotics via picc line at home and continued oral antibiotics and wound care up until he had the leg amputated June 2nd.

John knew that at this point there was no guarantee the leg could be saved but definetely would be losing even more ROM and function if he chose to continue trying. There was really nothing more anyone could do locally. The hardware couldn't even be removed for the wash outs. He would be looking at using a surgeon in Boston, taking out the hardware, instilling and antibiotic ball for 6wks, taking that out and monitoring infection for 6 wks, then the reconstructions would begin if all clean. With the possibility of infection returning at any time and a multitude of surgeries he researched and found out the latest in amputations and bionics. This research led him to Dr. Matthew Carty at Boston's Mass General Hospital. See more on the procedure here: https://www.kpbs.org/news/2022/02/17/nova-augmented

John spent years after his accident learning to walk again, trying to cope with the chronic pain and begin a family as he was just 24yrs old when his accident happened. He went back to college, finished a degree and did his best to return to the work force doing what he loved, building houses and remodeling, even obtaining his home inspection license. Nothing worked out for very long due to chronic pain and mobility limitations. John has fought and fought for his independence, always helping others anytime he seen a need, taking care of his family and putting us first. We want to try to make this easier on him by removing some of the financial burden that our family will incur during this amazing opportunity to be part of this program.

The future of amputees without phantom pains, with the ability to articulate the extremity is coming and John is now a part of helping to get that out to the public!

We got into the program at the end of the grant money to assist with travel and stay for the surgery. He will be covered for the continued trips for the research program every 3months but our stay in Boston has been extended to go ahead and start physical therapy for the program vs going home to North Carolina and coming right back within 2 wks for the first sessions. There will be much to do in the coming year with fitting of the prosthetic, obtaining the best out there until the bionics become science, adapting our home to his new needs, loss of wages ect we are starting with a small Go Fund Me while still in Boston due to the extended stay in Boston and immediate needs for medical equipment such as a light weight self propelled wheel chair and shower chair for amputee's, This will be a long road but he is the perfect person to apply this new technology and get it rolling out for all that can have a revision or that will need amputation of a limb in the future. Restoring the nerves and muscles, eliminating phantom pains and allowing patients to be more mobile and independent! Bionics are also in the works, great things are coming for this population, help us get it started, be a part of lifting John up to be as mobile as possible while waiting for his new leg!