Cole is an amazing 12-year-old boy, honor student, and a competitive soccer player who was practicing during the winter season when he obtained a severe head injury on January 7. That night, he went to Primary Children’s Hospital and had a CT scan and evaluation, which showed he had a severe concussion and TBI (traumatic brain injury). He has since had an MRI as well to rule out any other medical concerns. As of today, he is still not able to go back to school or resume his regular life. His parents, Amy & CJ, have to help him with most of his daily activities, including his personal hygiene, like dressing, brushing his teeth, etc. He needs to be with an adult at all times, including at night. Cole has daily episodes where he hits his stimulation threshold (mental, physical, or emotional) and becomes incoherent, comatose, unable to walk, follow simple directions, and is unable to be soothed.

Cole has between 6-8 appointments per week with his pediatrician, a team of concussion specialists, physical therapist, vision therapist, orthopedist, therapist, and a chiropractor who specializes in concussion and neck work. Amy has had to go on unpaid family medical leave from her job since the end of January to help care for Cole and take him to many of his appointments. CJ works from home but has been traveling a lot for work recently. They do not have family nearby, which puts all of the stress and obligations on them.

With Amy not earning her income while having to pay her company to keep the family insurance benefits, in addition to the exorbitant costs of multiple therapies that are not covered by their health insurance, the cost for caring for Cole is staggering.