We are seeking help for our son Carter from the community as we exhaust every option to help this bright boy get back the spark, the joy of a life which was dimmed beneath the weight of a brain injury and resulting mental illness that he just couldn’t battle on his own.

Carter’s Story:

Carter suffered his third concussion in twelve months at the start of his junior football season this past August. This series of repeated concussions, none suffered in the actual run of play, forced him to make the difficult decision to step away from the sports he loves (football and wrestling). Football and sports in general are part of Carter’s identity; all he ever wanted was to be a football player, and ideally a coach one day. He wanted to play for as long as he could, and was already receiving interest from FCS, DII and DIII colleges as a quarterback and linebacker. His path seemed set. Concussions took that away from him. Permanently.

While the decision to step away was the right one, and a brave one, it came at a cost. Anyone would struggle with losing their identity, let alone an adolescent boy just beginning to find himself. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning. One side effect of concussions is depression. The severity and impact of depression and other concussion symptoms is amplified in people with ADHD—a condition Carter was already wrestling with.

ADHD hampers one’s executive function. This is especially pronounced in adolescent boys. The concussions combined with his existing ADHD to further degrade Carter’s capacity. In layman’s terms, that means it’s next to impossible for Carter to stay focused, organized and on time the way you or I might. In school, he always did well with quizzes and tests, but classes and grades that are reliant on daily, repetitive work became next to impossible for him.

Carter’s struggles with schoolwork, combined with the creeping depression exacerbated by the loss of the sports he loved, led to a full-blown mental health crisis in October. Without going into detail, this was the most difficult moment of his life (and ours). It was a time where his mental, emotional and physical well-being were all at risk.

Following that harrowing incident, Carter left school and entered inpatient therapy for his depression. A month later, he is beginning at a new school, but he is NOT healed. We continue to pray for him and fortunately, after the experience of October, we finally have some hope for that to change.

As he returns to classes at a new school that can better support his neurodiversity, Carter has a chance to truly HEAL from his concussions with a new, intensive regimen of therapy that will essentially retrain his brain. The nearest doctor providing this therapy is not local to us, but is located in the Twin Cities. The cost of treatment is not covered by insurance. That, of course, is where things get tricky.

I went into business for myself in January and while it’s not going poorly, it’s also not profitable yet. We did what we could to make this year affordable while I ramped things up, but other unforeseen, emergency expenses have really eaten away at our reserve fund. As much as I enjoy my business and my clients, I’m looking for full-time corporate work again… but that’s a long-term solution.

Carter needs help as soon as we can get it for him.

This is why we’re opening this very focused GoFundMe.

To be perfectly transparent, this therapy will cost us approximately $1,000/day for five days. It is most effective in a 3- or 5-day intensive scenario—on site in the Twin Cities. We are asking the community for help raising the funds to cover a medical treatment that insurance won’t. We know we’ll cover the costs of travel, lodging and meals as one parent stays with Carter while the other remains home with the younger kids.

If you know us, you know this isn’t an easy request. I’ve always prided myself on being able to take care of my family, but for Carter’s sake we need to pull out all the stops. This is the first time I’ve ever asked the community for help, and I hope that it’s the last. We’ve always been givers and we look forward to getting back to that.

If you know and care about Carter—if you remember the smiling boy he was and can be—please say a prayer, share his story and help bring him some hope.

Thank you.