Davis family assistance

On behalf of our sister Nina, we are asking for help. Our niece and the oldest grandchild, Caraline has been in the hospital and is now in a rehabilitation facility to learn a new way of life. On July 22nd, she experienced sharp back pains and tingling in both legs. She then lost feeling from the waist down. Her mom rushed her to Upper Chesapeake Hospital in Maryland where she was admitted. Unable to determine a definitive cause, Caraline was air lifted to the University of Pennsylvania where she spent the next 25 days. Testing revealed LETM as a diagnosis, which is caused by a lesion on the spine. A final MRI found bulging vertebrae that caused a piece to break off which resulted in a stroke in her spinal cord. On August 19th, Caraline was transferred to Kennedy Krieger Spinal Cord Institute for a 12 - week minimum in-patient rehabilitation program to learn how to live life in a wheelchair.

Through all of this, Caraline has had high spirits (better than us most of the time)! She is determined to continue her sophomore year at West Virginia University and has started back on-line part time where she is studying Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics. Caraline is the best big sister to her younger brother and an amazing daughter. Overall, she is an awesome kid. Many of you who know her, know she has always been very involved in soccer. She’s played year-round since she was young. She is also very gifted academically and earned a partial scholarship to WVU where she came out of her shell and she LOVES life as a Mountaineer!

Thankfully, insurance should cover most of the medical expenses, but the Davis family has a long road of recovery ahead of them. With that said, we are asking for help. Please keep them in your thoughts and lift them in prayer, mainly for a speedy recovery so Caraline can return to college and get back to a new normal. They will need help with many expenses in the foreseeable future such as travel to and from rehab, ongoing treatment and a new home environment that is wheelchair accessible. These are top priorities right now.

To those of you know who us, we thank you dearly for your continued support, thoughts and prayers. From the bottom of our hearts, we are grateful for your comfort during this transitional time for our family. Nina is a private person, and Caraline even more so. Nina does know we’re reaching out and after some loving convincing, she has agreed to this happening because ultimately, she knows, help and support is needed.

Thank you!

Love the Matthews and Davis families