Cole's Journey to Recovery
Donation protected
I never anticipated having to ever start a gofundme for anyone and it humbles me to do so but we need help. On Friday, March 11, 2016, I got a call no one wants to get: "you're brother is in critical condition after a motorcycle accident with a pickup truck". Being in California, my fiancé and I raced at 11pm to Arizona and arrived at John C Lincoln Hospital's ICU at about 4am. The picture is how I found him.
His injuries are significant. Cole is suffering from a broken neck in four places, a bleeding in the part of his brain that controls behavior, a dissected artery in his neck, broken temporal bones causing bleeding out his ears, a cracked wrist, and a broken scalpula (shoulder area). He has a traumatic brain injury and the extent of permanence is unknown.
Cole is one of the best people I have ever met. He can make me laugh harder than anyone I've ever met. He is gentle yet hardheaded. He never gives up and he has ambition towards his goals. The army picked only a few people for a mission in Germany and I wasn't surprised to hear Cole was one of them. In fact, the army has been here in support since day one. If you know Cole, you know he is irreplaceable and one of a kind. If you know Cole, you can probably guess how painful it was to envision a life without him.
He is on the road to recovery. It will be difficult and there are many more obstacles he must face. For now, I can tell you that he is progressing in a positive direction. He has been extibated and has regained the ability to talk and is working with a speech pathologist. He is also working with physical therapy to regain his motor abilities. He is doing really well and what helps him keep going when he wants to stop due to pain is reminding him he is Army Strong and that he has is not a quitter. He is such a fighter.
As far as the details of the accident, we know very little. However, we do know that he has a guardian angel and she works here at this hospital. A woman was on her way to dinner Friday night, a dinner being thrown for her promotion, and she found Cole on the ground at the accident. She held his hand and talked to him and actually got his name. She instructed no one to touch his helmet or move his head and stayed with him to slap away hands that were trying to remove his helmet. She is the reason he is not paralyzed and didn't bleed out on the road. That woman ended up being a nurse at the hospital where a majority of motorcycle accidents go in az. Of all people to find him, she did. God is so good.
We are trying to raise money for his recovery. Once he is cleared to leave the hospital he will have to go to a live-in therapy facility to help exercise his brain at the most intensive level. He was approved for insurance but there are things that the insurance won't cover. We are asking for any help you can contribute.
Cole is blessed and strong, we want him to make a full recovery and there is a chance he might. He has a lot of people that love him and support him and as his sister, I'm very grateful to see that. Thank you all.
http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/north-phoenix/pd-motorcycle-rider-injured-in-collision-with-pickup-truck-in-north-phoenix-
His injuries are significant. Cole is suffering from a broken neck in four places, a bleeding in the part of his brain that controls behavior, a dissected artery in his neck, broken temporal bones causing bleeding out his ears, a cracked wrist, and a broken scalpula (shoulder area). He has a traumatic brain injury and the extent of permanence is unknown.
Cole is one of the best people I have ever met. He can make me laugh harder than anyone I've ever met. He is gentle yet hardheaded. He never gives up and he has ambition towards his goals. The army picked only a few people for a mission in Germany and I wasn't surprised to hear Cole was one of them. In fact, the army has been here in support since day one. If you know Cole, you know he is irreplaceable and one of a kind. If you know Cole, you can probably guess how painful it was to envision a life without him.
He is on the road to recovery. It will be difficult and there are many more obstacles he must face. For now, I can tell you that he is progressing in a positive direction. He has been extibated and has regained the ability to talk and is working with a speech pathologist. He is also working with physical therapy to regain his motor abilities. He is doing really well and what helps him keep going when he wants to stop due to pain is reminding him he is Army Strong and that he has is not a quitter. He is such a fighter.
As far as the details of the accident, we know very little. However, we do know that he has a guardian angel and she works here at this hospital. A woman was on her way to dinner Friday night, a dinner being thrown for her promotion, and she found Cole on the ground at the accident. She held his hand and talked to him and actually got his name. She instructed no one to touch his helmet or move his head and stayed with him to slap away hands that were trying to remove his helmet. She is the reason he is not paralyzed and didn't bleed out on the road. That woman ended up being a nurse at the hospital where a majority of motorcycle accidents go in az. Of all people to find him, she did. God is so good.
We are trying to raise money for his recovery. Once he is cleared to leave the hospital he will have to go to a live-in therapy facility to help exercise his brain at the most intensive level. He was approved for insurance but there are things that the insurance won't cover. We are asking for any help you can contribute.
Cole is blessed and strong, we want him to make a full recovery and there is a chance he might. He has a lot of people that love him and support him and as his sister, I'm very grateful to see that. Thank you all.
http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/north-phoenix/pd-motorcycle-rider-injured-in-collision-with-pickup-truck-in-north-phoenix-
Organizer
Angie Eichmeier
Organizer
Phoenix, AZ