Thirty-year-old Daniel Cope was living the good life. He has been
in a long-term relationship with his partner Rainy and a dedicated
stepdad to her two boys. Dan is a skilled pool player that played
on a couple pool leagues each week. In his spare time he enjoyed
playing historic characters, like Vikings, in various computer
games and frequently rode his Harley with Rainy, his mom, dad,
and brother as well as other friends. Dan is a hard worker that has
had a physically demanding, but well-paying job for years. He has
been working the graveyard shift the last couple years so he
could be home when the boys got home from school.
On Tuesday November 2nd at about 6:00 in the morning Dan was
headed home from working his normal graveyard shift. As he
pulled away from a four way stop, the driver to his right, driving a
large pickup truck, ran the stop sign and crashed into the
passenger side of Daniel’s vehicle at around 55 miles per hour.
The impact ejected Dan from his vehicle and he ended up laying
in the road ditch.
Dan was rushed to the emergency room at Saint Peters hospital
in Helena, Montana. They determined his injuries were beyond
what they could treat, and he was immediately flown ninety miles
to Benefis Hospital in Great Falls where they were better
equipped to deal with this type of trauma.
Dan underwent a four-hour surgery to his spine. The surgeon
reconstructed and fused two shattered vertebrae and connected
bars to screws inserted in three vertebrae above and two
vertebrae below the injury to stabilize Dan’s spine. He will have
this hardware in his back permanently. Dan then spent a week in
Intensive Care while they managed his excruciating pain and
monitored his initial recovery. The surgeon mentioned he could
tell it was a high velocity impact because the muscles in Dan’s
back were completely torn from his spine. In addition to the spinal
damage, Dan has several broken ribs and a myriad of bumps,
scrapes and bruises.
Dan will be required to wear a back brace for several months and
is undergoing rehabilitation to learn how to live with permanent T8
paraplegia. He has a long road to recovery as his body heals and
he learns to manage the various challenges of not being able to
feel anything from his waist to his toes. Dan is lucky in that his job
has given him good upper body strength that will give him a head
start in this journey.
Dan has been the primary source of income for their household of
four. The thought of not working has added worry and stress. His
partner Rainy is working to keep her new business afloat, give her
two boys a loving home and trying to figure out what needs to be
done to prepare for Dan’s return. With all of this, the ninety-mile
drive to Benefis to see him means that she has not been able to
visit him nearly as much as she wishes she could, it has been
difficult for both.
The bills are piling up; an ambulance ride to Saint Peters hospital
in Helena, the ninety-mile life flight to Benefis hospital in Great
Falls, neurosurgery on and repairs to his spine, a week in the
ICU, and a month or more of rehabilitation in Great Falls. It all
adds up to an overwhelming burden on this young family. This
doesn’t even include the costs associated with the equipment Dan
will need for a normal life and the modifications to their home, a
rental, to make it wheelchair accessible. While there is various
insurance coverage to leverage, it is nowhere near enough to
covering these expenses. Our goal is to reach $200,000 to help
with the extreme financial costs associated with Daniel’s initial
medical care.
Any contribution is greatly appreciated, and we thank everyone
for having Dan in their prayers. We are extremely grateful Dan is
alive and now it is time to focus on healing and rehabilitation.