On Tuesday, June 14, a wonderful evening turned into a nightmare as Franzi suffered a freak accident where she fell down a steep slope. She fractured and dislocated her spine and was paralyzed from the chest down. Fortunately, she did not suffer any major head trauma and is still her same bright and witty self! She had spinal surgery on Wednesday, June 15 at WakeMed in Raleigh, NC.
Since spinal surgery, Franzi has shown remarkable improvement in the mobility and dexterity in her arms and hands. She has begun spinal rehabilitation at WakeMed where we hope that she will continue to progress even further!
Now our attention has turned to her eventual return home and the many things that will entail. To prepare for her return home, we will need to:
- Build a wheelchair-accessible path with ramps from our driveway to the house.
- Modify our 1950's ranch-style house to be wheelchair accessible, e.g., widening doors, making the bathroom wheel-chair accessible, etc.
- Purchase a wheelchair accessible van with a built-in ramp
- Purchase a hospital bed
- Purchase a Hoyer lift
- Pay for assitive care
- Help with medical bills (even with good insurance!)
Any donations made to this site will be used to accomplish the above items for Franzi's benefit.
Thank you!
Keith and Franzi Rokoske