Colin's Recovery Fund
Donation protected
(Scroll to the bottom for the latest updates on Colin's recovery.)
A few months ago, Colin and his dog Gabby set out from Nashville on a grand tour of the United States. From Tennessee to Georgia and then up the east coast, the pair have been exploring and hiking and gracing friends and family with their company. Many of us have been following his trip online at his blog. 
By mid-February, Colin had made it across the Mississippi. Turning south from the cold of the Midwest, he and Gabby were spending time with friends in central Texas before continuing westward.
In El Paso, they met up with an old friend for a camping trip in New Mexico. During their return trip on February 25th, a tire blew out on their truck as they traveled south on the interstate and the vehicle rolled several times. Bystanders helped pull Colin and his friend from the vehicle and both were admitted to a hospital in Las Cruces. Colin’s friend was released after observation. Gabby did not survive the accident. 
Colin has had to undergo several surgeries in the first days following the accident. He was intubated and under sedation until Wednesday, and remains under hospital care at the time of writing (03/01). Between a concussion, abdominal surgery, cracked ribs on both his left and right sides, and a broken ankle, the boy is a mess top to bottom.
We’re asking for help because Colin is currently unemployed. Colin’s final destination in this trip was the Pacific Northwest, where he had a contract position waiting for him in landscape architecture, a position he hoped would become permanent. For the time being, his ability to pay bills, both medical and otherwise, will be severely limited.
Any financial assistance we can provide will be extremely helpful. Donations will be used to pay for his hospital stay as well as any ongoing therapy or rehabilitation.
03/04 update: He's out of the ICU! Colin had another surgery yesterday to clean out some issue-causing scar tissue in his abdomen, but they've moved him to a post-surgery floor in the hospital now. Another good sign is that the doctors have OK'd him to have ice chips and small sips of water. It's the first steps back on the path from IVs only to real food again. (He'll be very thankful for that -- seeing food commercials on television has been torturous since he hasn't been able to eat.)
Update Thursday 3/8 :
Colin is continuing to improve and spirits remain positive despite a bit of an additional setback discovered earlier this week. Colin underwent his fourth surgery last night on his left knee to insert 7 screws and a plate after discovering it too was fractured in the accident. Turns out, it isn't too easy to support full body weight on one fractured left knee when no weight can be put on a shattered right ankle while beginning rehab on Tuesday. So it looks like he'll be off his feet for decently longer than maybe first anticipated.
In better news, he got his first real meal post surgery in nearly 10 days at his request of tomato basil soup, Mac and cheese, bread and a chocolate chip cookie.
Thanks to all for the continued support, kind words, and donations - it means the world to Colin and his mom and helps him continue on his long road to recovery.
Update 3/29
Hi everyone!
It's due time for an update, be it short and sweet.
To start, thanks so much for all of the continued support, thoughts & prayers, and monetary assistance. Hearing all of the kind words has been immensely helpful for Colin.
He was released from the hospital 3/22. He'll be continuing his journey to recovery for a while still at his friend's house in El Paso before picking his journey back up. Recovery is going well so far with no signs of complications and wheelchair bound for a few more weeks - but surprisingly having fun with it until his leg braces come off in a month!
Whether you've followed along with his journey from the beginning or just chipped in through a friend, he's updated his personal travel blog about the accident, his experience in the hospital, and his plans moving forward. So please go give that a visit at the link below as he'll likely take up future updates from there.
http://www.colinwoodfordowen.com/blog/2018/3/20/the-accident
A few months ago, Colin and his dog Gabby set out from Nashville on a grand tour of the United States. From Tennessee to Georgia and then up the east coast, the pair have been exploring and hiking and gracing friends and family with their company. Many of us have been following his trip online at his blog. 
By mid-February, Colin had made it across the Mississippi. Turning south from the cold of the Midwest, he and Gabby were spending time with friends in central Texas before continuing westward.
In El Paso, they met up with an old friend for a camping trip in New Mexico. During their return trip on February 25th, a tire blew out on their truck as they traveled south on the interstate and the vehicle rolled several times. Bystanders helped pull Colin and his friend from the vehicle and both were admitted to a hospital in Las Cruces. Colin’s friend was released after observation. Gabby did not survive the accident. 
Colin has had to undergo several surgeries in the first days following the accident. He was intubated and under sedation until Wednesday, and remains under hospital care at the time of writing (03/01). Between a concussion, abdominal surgery, cracked ribs on both his left and right sides, and a broken ankle, the boy is a mess top to bottom.
We’re asking for help because Colin is currently unemployed. Colin’s final destination in this trip was the Pacific Northwest, where he had a contract position waiting for him in landscape architecture, a position he hoped would become permanent. For the time being, his ability to pay bills, both medical and otherwise, will be severely limited.
Any financial assistance we can provide will be extremely helpful. Donations will be used to pay for his hospital stay as well as any ongoing therapy or rehabilitation.
03/04 update: He's out of the ICU! Colin had another surgery yesterday to clean out some issue-causing scar tissue in his abdomen, but they've moved him to a post-surgery floor in the hospital now. Another good sign is that the doctors have OK'd him to have ice chips and small sips of water. It's the first steps back on the path from IVs only to real food again. (He'll be very thankful for that -- seeing food commercials on television has been torturous since he hasn't been able to eat.)
Update Thursday 3/8 :
Colin is continuing to improve and spirits remain positive despite a bit of an additional setback discovered earlier this week. Colin underwent his fourth surgery last night on his left knee to insert 7 screws and a plate after discovering it too was fractured in the accident. Turns out, it isn't too easy to support full body weight on one fractured left knee when no weight can be put on a shattered right ankle while beginning rehab on Tuesday. So it looks like he'll be off his feet for decently longer than maybe first anticipated.
In better news, he got his first real meal post surgery in nearly 10 days at his request of tomato basil soup, Mac and cheese, bread and a chocolate chip cookie.
Thanks to all for the continued support, kind words, and donations - it means the world to Colin and his mom and helps him continue on his long road to recovery.
Update 3/29
Hi everyone!
It's due time for an update, be it short and sweet.
To start, thanks so much for all of the continued support, thoughts & prayers, and monetary assistance. Hearing all of the kind words has been immensely helpful for Colin.
He was released from the hospital 3/22. He'll be continuing his journey to recovery for a while still at his friend's house in El Paso before picking his journey back up. Recovery is going well so far with no signs of complications and wheelchair bound for a few more weeks - but surprisingly having fun with it until his leg braces come off in a month!
Whether you've followed along with his journey from the beginning or just chipped in through a friend, he's updated his personal travel blog about the accident, his experience in the hospital, and his plans moving forward. So please go give that a visit at the link below as he'll likely take up future updates from there.
http://www.colinwoodfordowen.com/blog/2018/3/20/the-accident
Organizer
Colin Owen
Organizer
Tacoma, WA
