Help for Jeff's ski accident recovery

My name is Craig and I am starting this fundraiser on behalf of my brother, Jeff Volimas.

On Wednesday, December 14, my brother Jeff and I were taking one of our last runs on my annual December ski trip to his home outside of Park City, Utah. We were having a great day skiing Solitude Mountain but it was 3:15 so we had to leave so I could catch my flight back to my home in San Diego. While going down the mountain, I looked behind me and he was gone. I got to the bottom of the mountain but he never showed up. I waited a few minutes before I opted to ride the lift back up to see if I could find him. On the way up, I spotted him in the snow, surrounded by ski patrol. When I reached the top, I skied down to find Jeff wrenched in pain. He is an expert skier whose second home has been on the slopes for about 50 years so I knew it had to be serious. Ski patrol asked him his level of pain and he yelled out “11!” It was obvious there was a leg injury, but the extent was unknown. First aid arrived and they administered morphine but that did little to dull his pain. He was then transported to the main first aid station where EMTs were waiting with an ambulance. Once he was stable, he was taken to Intermountain Emergency Medical in Murray, Utah.

It was there that he was diagnosed with fractures in both legs. He suffered a broken tibia/fibula on the left leg and a fracture of the tibial plateau on the right leg. Later, they found that he also tore the meniscus ligament on his right leg. Luckily, he was wearing a helmet so though his head also hit the ground hard, he did not sustain a head injury.

Even so, his leg injuries are quite significant. He had surgery on his left leg on Thursday morning. The surgery on his right leg was postponed till Saturday morning due to excessive swelling. But the surgeries are just the first steps on a very long and arduous road to recovery.

He lives alone in the mountains with his two dogs who he adores. They are his only family in Utah. Traveler is his 62 lb Australian Shepherd and Pyrene is his 90lb Akbash Dog. His home is in a remote location and is only accessible via stairs. Clearly, he cannot remain there during his recovery and rehab. All of his family and most of his good friends are in California.

To add to these challenges, he was between jobs trying to get his Master boot fitting business off the ground so was uninsured at the time of the accident. He has no other income. He is currently in hospital, but when he’s released, it’s uncertain if he will be able to go to a care facility due to his lack of coverage.

Just the ambulance, hospital stay, and surgeries will run into the 10s of thousands of dollars, not to mention, the lost potential income, the cost for rehab and physical therapy, and transportation costs to eventually get him and his two large dogs to California so that he can convalesce with family and friends.

The doctors estimate that it will take him about 3 months to be weight-bearing on his left leg and another 3 months (or 6 months in total) to be weight-bearing on his right leg. Until then, he is going to need a lot of support, financial, logistical, and emotional. Without insurance, his ability to get the care he needs to fully recover will be hampered but I know Jeff is going to get back to where he was before the surgery but not without some help. He loves the mountains, skiing, mountain biking and being active too much to give up.

If you know Jeff, you know no one is a bigger cheerleader for his family and friends and when he is able, he is generous to a fault – both with money and his time. He is endlessly interested in the world and the people around him and like the high school teacher he used to be, he loves to share what he has learned. He does not want to be in a position to need help, but that’s the situation he finds himself in. He would never ask himself but if you are in the position to contribute, he and I would be endlessly grateful for any assistance during this time while he recovers from these significant injuries and collateral challenges.