On December 3, 2018 my oldest brother Dante, who has cerebral palsy, was hit by a motorcycle while crossing Sunset Blvd (on crutches). The impact sent him flying 20 feet, and most people at the scene thought he was dead. He survived, but his injuries included a fractured skull, a brain bleed, several broken ribs, a collapsed lung, broken pelvis, and a broken femur. He was admitted to the ICU where he was intubated and placed in a medical coma. Operations to pin the leg and pelvis were performed and he spent a total of 5 weeks in ICU. He drifted in and out of consciousness for over a month and when he awoke he had total amnesia. 

Once released from the ICU, Dante was sent to a care facility for rehabilitation, where he received minimal and non-specialized treatment. On March 15 the facility discontinued any further therapy treatments, despite the fact that he was far from healed. He was dependent on facility staff to get out of bed or move at all, his mobility near non-existent. He has since been sent home with little improvement and thus the situation is unsustainable, as he is unable to live on his own.

Right now we are doing everything we can to restore his life to some semblance of normal. This includes everything from paying his rent and utilities, medical fees and treatment, transportation, installation of special handrails and other devices throughout his apartment and looking after his daily care. This with the added complication that he lives in Los Angeles while the rest of us live on the East Coast.

The bottom line is that Dante needs regular, aggressive physical therapy because otherwise he will be in a wheelchair and fully dependent the rest of his life. Dante's insurance will only provide limited in-home physical therapy, which is inadequate and inappropriate for someone with his pre-existing condition. Our goal is to raise $108,000 to pay for an aggressive 6-month holistic rehab that includes daily specialized physical therapy and a full-time home caregiver, equipment, rehabilitation fees and so on. We can’t stress enough how important Dante’s pre-accident independence was to him. Given his severe handicap, his life before the incident was somewhat miraculous, as he managed to live alone and support himself for his entire adult life. 

We believe that we can get him back up on his crutches so he can regain his freedom, however the treatment he needs is beyond our resources to provide. We’re extremely lucky to have never had to reach out like this, and wouldn’t do so if there was any other option. We also understand that many of you are at your limit trying to cover day to day expenses and your own financial difficulties, medical and otherwise. However if you can afford to donate any amount from $10–$25 (or more), Dante and our family will be eternally grateful.