My brother, Tracy Hruza, is a down-to-earth good guy who loves life and his family, dog (who he rescued or she rescued him!), pickup truck, farm, and country music. This is Tracy’s story of surviving a ruptured brain aneurysm and beating all odds. If you google brain aneurysms, you’ll understand why I say Tracy is a miracle. He is my biggest motivator to continue down the road to recovery with him and that is the reason for this campaign. We want financial worries to be the least of his concern and invite you to invest in his journey back. Hospital bills alone are just under one million dollars.

TRACY'S STORY–Not the flu or food poisoning but a brain aneurysm! On August 25, 2014 Tracy was air lifted from Sidney, Nebraska, to Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado. The next morning he had surgery for a brain aneurysm. Tracy was in CCU for 3 ½ weeks. He was on life support, his heart had stopped several times and we didn’t know if he was going to make it. The doctors (and there were many!) told us initially that if he made it, it would be a life changing event for him. It is a miracle that he survived the brain aneurysm, a miracle that he survived the 7 hour surgery to clip the aneurysm which meant removing part of his skull, and a miracle that he survived the 14 day period immediately following surgery which was a critical time for strokes/seizures that could cause more damage. On September 18 he was transferred to the Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Care Hospital in Johnstown, Colorado. On October 2 he was moved to the Northern Colorado Rehabilitation Hospital in Johnstown. Finally on October 16, fifty-three days after becoming ill, he was discharged. Tracy is currently in outpatient rehab and his prognosis looks very good; another miracle. He has kept his sense of humor which no doubt helps tremendously with his recovery. He continues to amaze everyone.




Tracy does not remember anything from the first four weeks of this journey except that he had a really bad headache and was vomiting. He thought it was the flu or food poisoning and drove to work the next morning. It is a miracle that his sister, Karen, decided to stop by his office on her way to work. She knew something was terribly wrong and said “Trust me. Come with me. We need to go to the doctor.” where they diagnosed the brain bleed. It is a miracle that my husband and I were on vacation in Estes Park, Colorado and were able to get to the hospital in Denver just as the helicopter was landing. It is a miracle that I “retired” earlier this year and was able to be with him for most of the next 9 weeks.

LESSONS LEARNED. High blood pressure is a silent killer and can contribute to brain aneurysms that can be life changing. The first time Tracy tried to sit up on the edge of the bed, I didn’t know whether to cry happy tears because he was able to sit up or cry sad tears because he struggled so hard to sit up. He has come so far.

Have faith and never give up. We had faith in the wonderful doctors, nurses and medical staff who were the best of the best. Tracy’s guardian angels were his family and gave him undeniable strength even when he couldn’t respond. The power of prayer is amazingly strong and above all, God gave him a miracle to heal.

HEART FELT THANK YOU. Thank you to everyone for their support and prayers. Thank you to the wonderful doctors and medical staff who saved Tracy’s life. Thank you to everyone who contributes to the unexpected expenses that came with this unexpected event.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY-November 9th. Happy Birthday little brother! I’ve been with you every step of the way and will continue to be. It’s been quite a journey and we’re all so thankful you are on this earth to celebrate another birthday. We are so proud of you!