Bring Jim Cox Home: Medical Transport Needed

Hi. My name is Michelle Wease and I am the daughter of Jim & Sharon Cox. My brother, Chris Cox, and I, on behalf of our parents are reaching out for help with the cost of getting Dad home.

If you are unaware, Mom and Dad went to New York for the Christmas holidays to spend them with Chris and his family. On Christmas Eve, Dad had a stroke. He's been in the hospital ever since. Given Dad's diagnosis of Alzheimer's earlier in 2024, the stroke has added a ton of new challenges.

Dad's doing relatively well, he's back on regular food, the drooping in his face is gone and he has full use of his voice. The stroke damaged the part of your brain that controls communication though so he's having tremendous difficulty in forming sentences and having conversations. He is more lucid in the morning and early afternoon then experiences "sundowners" as the day goes on.

He's funny in some ways, he's always been a singer; belting out random and made-up songs as he goes about his days. Last night, around 2:30 a.m. he began singing a very old song called "16 Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford. His roommate (also an Alzheimer's patient with a recent stroke) began to sing along. While none of this is "funny" you have to take your chuckles when you can get them. I got a hearty laugh out of their impromptu duet.

Friends and family, as much as we hate to take this step (you know, the old pride thing), we need to come to you to ask for help in getting Dad back home to Missouri. To fly him home on a medical flight would cost $45,000!!. We've found a service that will put him in a Sprinter with two medical people driving it. Chris would be allowed to ride along so Dad is more comforted. They will drive straight through from Syracuse, NY to O'Fallon, MO. The cost of this service is $7,500.

Any amount would be appreciated. Thank you, regardless of whether you can help us financially, we've been held up by your thoughts and prayers since this all started.

Dad has a long road ahead but the top priority is getting him home. Thank you for your time in reading this and your consideration.

Sharon, Michelle & Chris