*April 2025 UPDATE: AJ is still not able to communicate and requires support for ALL his cares. He will be transferred to another location; where he will be receiving a more specialized level of therapy. AJ has yet to regain his orientation and alertness, but family and friends are extremely hopefully that the new location will begin to make changes .... no matter how small.*

Before his transfer, AJ was invited to the TEEN PROM at Children's. I have added a few pictures of the action packed evening. :)

Hi everyone! My name is Tricia. I was recently introduced to this wonderful woman, Automa. Automa has this vibrant young 15 year old son named Arthur ("AJ"). AJ is your typical, ornery, on-the-go teenager. AJ has a big heart for animals and was considering a veterinary or culinary career (hmmmm ... a teenager who loves food). They both just moved to the St. Louis area from Canton, OH at the end of February 2025. AJ, loving to be outside, was excited to check out his new neighborhood one evening on his bike. However, on this bike ride, AJ was in a life altering accident when he and a car collided. Miraculously, AJ did not suffer a single broken or fractured bone. He did suffer an assortment of injuries, including a severe traumatic brain injury and tear to an artery in his heart. While he no longer needs ICU level care and is awake, AJ remains unable to communicate and continues to require support for all his cares. AJ has yet to regain his orientation and alertness.

While AJ has an extensive amount of recovery left in his journey, he continues to show his fighting spirit every day! With time and ongoing support, AJ is working towards regaining as much of his previous functioning and independence as possible.

Automa has been at the hospital every day and night by her sons' side! Since they had just moved to the area, Automa was job searching; but only being here for 8-days was not long enough to obtain the perfect job. Her boyfriend, David, has been driving over 100 miles daily between work, home, and the hospital. Unfortunately, this is all taking a toll financially.

Any donation is much appreciated! Thank you for taking the time to read this little story!