Gary Cogis Stroke Recovery Fund

Hi, my name is Teresa Elias, sister to Liz Elias (@midmodutah) and sister-in-law to Gary Cogis (owner of @grained.woodworks). On Monday, August 7 at 1:00 AM, Gary suffered a massive stroke caused by a blood clot that became lodged in his brain stem.

Since that night, Gary has been treated by an amazing team of doctors and nurses at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City, and he has shown amazing progress in the ICU, showing strength and perseverance in a short amount of time. We are so grateful for the positive signs we've seen so far.

That said, he has a long road ahead to get back to the active and independent life he is used to. His fine motor skills and balance will require work. He has vision impairment and will likely need some speech therapy as well. His short-term memory is also significantly impacted.

If you know Gary, you know he is fiercely determined and will stop at nothing to reach his goals, which will serve him well over the next several weeks and months. That said, we're still not sure of all the needs Gary and Liz will have, but we are sure that it will take a lot of different types of support, including financial. As you know, both Gary and Liz are self-employed (going back to that independent streak), so financial support is going to be key to keeping them both focused on their mental, emotional, and physical health through this stressful time.

Right now, we are looking to provide support to help Gary and Liz pay for their high-deductible insurance plan. After this, there will be occupational and physical therapy to help Gary get back to where he was health-wise before the stroke and get him back to work and the life he loves. The financial burden is uncertain right now, and because of this, the money will also be used to provide support to Liz and Gary while Gary is out of work and to purchase items for the house that will be needed once Gary is out of rehab.

We appreciate any help you can provide to support Gary and Liz right now. And any positive thoughts and love you can send to them are also appreciated. For updates about Gary and his progress, along with other ways you can help, please follow us at https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/garycogis

Thank you so much.