Support Dylan Jakscht’s Recovery
On Monday, June 7th, after a day filled with love and time spent catching up as a family, an evening of sunset watching by the lake turned into a life-changing event. While going for a swim, Dylan dove in head first hitting his head directly on the bottom of the lake’s surface. He fractured his neck and was immediately paralyzed from the shoulders down. He was rushed to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, where he was stabilized and then had a 6 hour surgery the next night to fix his fractured C3 and C4 vertebrae. He received a glimmer of hope in the news that his spinal cord was not completely severed, however it is severely damaged.
He has been transitioned from a ventilator to a tracheostomy and now to breathing on his own. Doctors told us it wasn’t possible. Due to his level of injury, independent breathing capabilities is often absent and sends patients home on a ventilator for the rest of their life. To add onto this, unfortunately, he was under water for an extended period of time and had a lung filled entirely with lake water. One bronchoscopy and several doses of strong antibiotics later, his lungs have cleared and his breathing has been stable ever since the tracheostomy came out!
By the grace of God, he did not suffer any brain damage and is as coherent and smart of a kid as ever. He is home now and many modifications have had to be made. He has been working incredibly hard with PT and OT since he’s gotten home. He still has a long road ahead of months to maybe even years of rehab. He is proving to be even more of a strong, determined, and highly motivated young man than we ever thought possible. Throughout his time in the ICU, he had no feeling whatsoever in his arms or legs. The healing process is incredibly slow with a spinal cord injury but over time he can now feel sensations to his whole body, and has slight motor movements in his arms. Therapists are hopeful that with lots of work, he will one day be able to lift his arms to feed himself, brush his teeth, itch his face, etc. We are praying hard for use of his full body. One thing is certain, this kid is exceptional and if anybody can beat this, it’s Dylan. We are so very proud of him and we have the utmost faith in God that he will make it through this.
The road to recovery will be long and hard- emotionally, spiritually, physically, and financially. Medical bills, intensive rehabilitation, home modifications, medication, psychological help, etc have begun to add up and we ask for your continued support through this difficult time. Also, with the rate at which spinal cord injury research is progressing right now, treatments such as stem cell therapy may be available in the future which is very costly and we would love for Dylan to be able to have this option.
Dylan is a 20 year old boy, who is extremely active. A graduate of East Troy High School, Dylan had plans to return to college at the University of Milwaukee with aspirations of owning his own business. With your financial support, Dylan will not only be able to take care of his bills that have accumulated but more importantly, he will be able to live a life again. He still wants to travel, see the world, go back to school, start a business, and your support would mean the world in providing hope for a life to be lived for this young man.
From the entire family, thank you and we ask that you please keep Dyl in your prayers.
