On behalf of my nephew Dillon

Nearly 13 months ago (Dec 17th, 2023), my nephew Dillon was leaving work on night shift after working 6 12-hour shifts back to back. He was almost home when he had a horrific car accident and hit a bridge. He lived in Tuscaloosa at that time, was rushed to the closest hospital there, and within a few hours, life-lifted to UAB, a trauma 1 hospital over an hour away from his home, in a helicopter.

He has had more surgeries/procedures than I can count at this point, but somewhere in the 30-40s range. He will be having another one in the morning. He had a lot of internal damage, broken bones including his neck and lumbar. They had to remove some organs and a lot of his intestines. He will have to learn how to walk again once he is stable from all of the infections and they figure out the true source of where they are coming from.

Today is his 23rd birthday and we are celebrating in the hospital for the 2nd year. However, we are celebrating that he is alive!

He has been sick with infection after infection all of last year and now into this year. In order for us to keep Dillon on his insurance through his employer (COBRA), it is $582.00 a month. I’ve paid it a few times, but I’ve been out of work and in Alabama caring for him since the end of September. I found out in December that I will not be granted pay while out on FMLA leave. It’s been one issue with funds after another, (that were supposed to have paid) and I’m literally just trying to help him in every way possible. He CANNOT go without this insurance. It literally pays for SO many services that are crucial for him: speech, OT, physical, home health, and a visual nurse that will attend doctors' appointments in the future with him. Those are just a few of the services that he needs. It will pay for him to go back to rehab once he’s strong enough to sit up for three hours a day.

SSI will not pay his benefits as long as he’s in the hospital, so I’ve literally seen $0 from them, which I had been told he would get and thought we would have some relief once it paid. Never was I told about him being in the hospital would affect it. I set Dillon up with an apartment close to UAB because of all of the doctors' appointments. Being walking distance with him in a wheelchair is a HUGE help, calling 911 as many times as we’ve had to call, and so my mom and I can swap out being by his side. However, he’s only been home for a total of 3 weeks since I got it, before having another infection and being re-admitted.

Friends and family pulled together enough to pay his insurance for us last month, and I’m so grateful to every single one of you. However, Dillon needs continued help for us to be able to continue paying his insurance every month, until he is stable and out of the hospital and can receive his benefits.

He has a big surgery that needs to happen as well so he can eat and drink again. It’s been nearly 13 MONTHS without him having anything to eat or drink! Solely TPN (nutrition through his veins).

If you pray, please pray or continue praying for him. Lift him up in your thoughts, send him positive vibes and energy, it all helps. Donate to his fund if you can, every single bit helps, and PLEASE share this.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart ♥️

Cassie