Barry Roeber Medical Fund

At around 7:00pm on Tuesday September 11, my dad, Barry Roeber, was in a bicycle accident. As he was coming down the hill from our home he attempted to slow down by pushing the front breaks, not only stopping him dead in his tracks at 25 mph, but also catapulting him over the handle bars and sending him tumbling face first into the pavement; knocking him unconscious. Thankfully, a neighbor found him and brought him home. As he started to realize what had happened, my dad called his wife (and my mom) Wendy and asked her to come home. He then proceeded to take a shower to remove the rocks and dirt from his wounds. When my mom got home, she opened the shower curtain and decided he needed to go to the emergency room as his eyelid was completely broke open and would need stitches.

As my dad was waiting in the ER, he started feeling pain and pressure in his lower back and was sent to CT which showed he was bleeding from the bottom half of his left kidney. He was then flown by helicopter to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester where he received 10 units of blood product and then underwent a minimally invasive surgery to place a coil around the severed kidney to stop the bleeding and avoid removing the kidney; the surgery was successful.

He spent the rest of Tuesday night and most of Wednesday in the ICU. As he was waiting to be transferred to a recovery room, he started experiencing pain and swelling in his right wrist. Radiology came, took x-rays and found his wrist to be completely broken. Because of the severity of the break, his trauma team decided to have a CT done to determine when he would need surgery. Due to the swelling he was told he would have to wait until the 20th for a second CT and then they would be able to schedule an operation. In addition to the broken wrist, he also has two broken ribs on the right side.

My dad started making huge strides in his recovery (he was getting up completely on his own and walking without any assistance) and was set to be discharged on Saturday September 15th. As he was getting ready to go home, he began having chest pains and couldn’t catch his breath; this got people talking and moving VERY quickly. He got a chest x-ray, CT and an EKG, all coming back normal. He then got some blood drawn where they found MRSA, a blood infection that could lead to sepsis if not caught in time. Thankfully they were able to get him on antibiotics right away to stop the infection. But it doesn’t end there.

We began to realize that my dad wasn’t even close to normal. He was sleeping all day and all night, whenever he would talk he wouldn’t make much sense, he was having a hard time remembering where he was, and what day/year it is. My mom informed the nursing staff and trauma team that he’s usually very on top of everything and that something was seriously wrong. Neurology diagnosed him with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and requested that speech occupational and physical therapy met with him as well to start getting him back to normal. Due to the extent of the TBI, he will be going to a brain injury rehabilitation facility in order to get him to recover in all aspects of his health.

As a man who has dedicated his life to helping others as a first responder and volunteer fireman, he could really use some help right now; emotionally and financially. My family and I are setting up this GoFundMe page in an attempt to lessen the burden of medical bills as my dad will be out of work for quite some time. Unfortunately, because my dad also switched jobs in April he does not qualify for disability nor FMLA. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for any financial support you can provide.

Prayerfully consider our family in this time of need.

Kayla, Morgan and Family