Help for Tim and Family while he recovers

**Recovery Update 12/20**

Happy holidays to all. TJ has made some great progress since we last updated everyone. He's been going to physical therapy as prescribed by his doctors, had surgery on his left wrist (poor gy is a lefty, too), and every day he continues to accomplish new physical goals. Though these physical tasks have been small, they're HUGE for him. TJ has started walking small distances, but still relies heavily on a walker and/or wheelchair, as his left knee is still in a lot of pain, and is unstable for him to walk unassisted. Surgery for the knee repair, to remove the pins is scheduled for February 2024, so until then, he'll continue to work on his endurance. There still may be another surgery after that for tendon/ligament repair after that. Drop foot has been one of the top concerns in his long list of injuries, so TJ has been wearing a brace to help support the foot, which has brought him huge pain relief. The doctors are hopeful that with time, patience, and PT that it will continue to improve. It's also worth mentioning that TJ has been home since October, and with the exception of the painkillers in the hospital, he has maintained his sobriety from all narcotics, managing pain with ONLY Motrin and ibuprofen. He is a BEAST.

Megan's previous employer from earlier on, was not able to continue being flexible with her needs while balancing her work and home life, so Megan has since become unemployed. TJ is unable to work due to his injuries, but has started back cutting hair to the best of his ability, when he can, seldom throughout the week. TJ was recently approved to start receiving disability, and there will be no settlement from the accident, due to the insurance carrier of the driver. While TJ recovers, he still does need help around the house, and luckily Megan is able to be present to help him while she's not working. Megan is still looking for employment opportunities, but finding the balance of care-taking and providing for the family is incredibly difficult. Obviously, the holidays are coming, and bills don't stop for anyone, nor do the needs of the family. We'd like to ask for your continued support to get them through the holidays by making donations; intended to be put towards food, rent, utilities, gifts for the kids, or to help with any other bills. We understand that the holiday season is a financially difficult time to ask for this type of help, and they appreciate any donation to or share of this post. We wish you ALL happy, safe, and healthy holiday season ahead, and we thank you for the continued support.

Recovery Update 10/19:**

After nearly 3 weeks in the hospital and rehab, TJ went HOME on Friday, October 6. While TJ was disappointed that he would be sent home with the x-fix still in place on his right leg, he was happy to get home all the same, and his loved ones were all SO excited to receive him; they made posters, made sidewalk chalk art, blew up balloons, and some of the brothers from the DBMC built an enormous ramp for TJ. TJ's beloved dog, Tico, was one of the most excited to see him; these two are forever bonded and seeing them reunite was a real tearjerker.

Tico snuggling her dad for his first night home.

DBMC built this HUGE ramp!!!

"Welcome Home Razzor" & "Welcome Home Daddy TT!"

The car ride home!!

While going home was exciting, just being home came with it's own set of struggles; TJ and Megan live 2.5 hours from us, which makes it harder for us to be able to be any help to TJ, Megan, or the kids, when it comes to day-to-day activities. Moving around the house from room to room is even difficult because some of the doorways in the house aren't wide enough for the wheelchair to fit through, crutches are obviously not an option yet, even getting out of bed to get to the bathroom is a physical struggle for him. Thankfully, TJ has friends and brothers from DBMC nearby who have been able to come out and help 're-locate' TJ around the house, which he appreciates SO much. For anyone who knows TJ, you know he has a hard time sitting still, and loves to stay busy, so having someone around to help him get moving has been a godsend.

Tim had surgery yesterday, 10/18 to finally remove the x-fix from his right leg, address the issues with his nerve in the right leg/foot, and to repair the torn tendons and ligaments in his left knee. Surgery took almost all day. The doctors said that the nerve in his right leg was very stretched out and somewhat frayed, and he may face struggles with drop foot due to the trauma to the nerve. Drop foot can be permanent, but the doctor's said they've seen people come back from worse, so we are hopeful. TJ still has MONTHS of recovery, physical therapy, and all the things in between. The doctors haven't given anyone a specific timeline, but the best they can speculate is anywhere from 8-12 months. We don't know how, or when, or what he'll be capable of when it comes to working in the future- TJ is a jack of all trades, anywhere from landscaping, fencing, roofing, and water-proofing - to his passion of being a barber which, believe it or not, is also physically taxing.

The next step for TJ is surgery, on Monday 10/23, to repair the fracture in his left wrist (picture below).

While TJ continues to recover and make progress every day, life hasn't stopped for anyone outside of the situation. Megan's employer was understanding of her circumstances while things were fresh after TJ's accident; they allowed her the flexibility she needed to be present for TJ, her kids, and understood that work would need to take a back seat for a bit. After a few weeks, Megan's employer was no longer able to provide that continued flexibility, so Megan is now unemployed, and seeking out other opportunities. We hope this GoFundMe will continue to provide support for TJ and Megan's household and family, until she can find another job that works better for her availability or flexibility in consideration of TJ's needs.

Thank you everyone for your donations, your support, prayers, love, and good vibes that you've sent their way this far. Please continue to share, and to donate if you can.

**Recovery Update: 10/2/2023**

TJ was transferred to University of MD Rehabilitation in Baltimore to begin his physical therapy on Saturday September 23. After getting settled at the Rehab Center, TJ quickly started doing physical therapy, and getting his strength back.

^^ Taken last week

A few days after being in rehab, the doctors were talking about doing surgery to remove the x-fix from the right leg, and at the same time, correcting all the issues with the tears to his ACL, MCL on the left knee. The hope was to do everything all at once, to avoid more surgery than necessary. They even said he might be able to come home as soon as 10/4(!!!). TJ was looking SO forward to having the x-fix off, to do the work in PT, and to get home. Soon thereafter, the doctor's decided that they would need to do surgery to reposition the right knee that was being stabilized by the x-fix first, as his knee was not set in optimum position for healing. So, the x-fix will stay on for a few more weeks while things continue to heal. We found out today (10/2) TJ will have the other surgery for his left knee on Thursday 10/5.

Overall, TJ is in pain most days, hovering at a 5-6 on the pain scale. One of his big worries, is about his future capacity as a man, to be able to do things around the house, to take care of the yard, all the demanding laborious tasks that he likes to do, and feels he need to do in order to take care of his family. Outside of his pain, with all things considered, he is in relatively good spirits; he's being nice to all the staff members and students in charge of his care, prioritizing his rest, adhering to his body's temporary limitations, and is committed to respecting the process of healing. Some days are simply harder than others because he isn't able to get comfortable enough to sleep, because of the broken rib and bruising on his lungs. If you know TJ, you know he has always been one to push himself past the brink, in any situation, in any circumstance, he will push through. We're all doing our best to keep him mentally tough while he pushes through this.

With all this progress, it seemed like things could only go up from there, but within the short time it's been since the accident, both Megan and TJ's car's are now struggling. With Megan going back and forth from home, work, kids sports events in Mechanicsville, then to La Plata and/or Baltimore to visit Tim as often as possible, Tim's truck broke down leaving Megan stranded. The issue with TJ's truck has been ongoing, but nonetheless, needed to go back in for repairs. After getting Tim's truck to the shop, Megan was back to driving her car, which wasn't in the best shape to begin with. On Thursday 9/28, while Megan was at the rehab center visiting Tim, the catalytic converter was cut off and stolen from her car. Megan is working with insurance to see what if anything can be done, and with the support of family and members from the DBMC, the car is running, and should be good enough to keep her going for the time being. With expenses seemingly never ending, we've decided to keep this page open and update the goal for continued shares, and support. Down the line, they're expecting very little to come from the driver/insurance from the accident, so the hope is to keep them going into 2024. If you're unable to donate, we understand, all we ask is that this is continued to be shared among social media and beyond.

We'll keep providing updates as they develop.

Thank you everyone for your donations, your support, prayers, love, and good vibes that you've sent their way this far. Please continue to share, and to donate if you can.

--Original Post--

Hi, my name is Ashley Simmons. I'm a 30-something mother, wife, daughter, and the youngest sister of three kids. My oldest sibling is my brother, TJ - but he is fondly known by many nicknames, 'Tim', 'brudder', 'daddy TT', or as his brothers in Different Breed Motorcycle Club call him, 'Razzor', (because he's an incredibly talented barber). TJ spent a lot of his adult life struggling with ADHD, becoming a young parent, the trauma of losing a parent, addiction to opioids and ultimately incarceration. For the last five years, TJ has been living in recovery, sometimes working two jobs, and doing all he can to build a better life for himself. TJ currently lives in the Mechanicsville/Golden Beach area with his girlfriend of 2.5 years, Megan, and her three beautiful children, Jax, Chaz, and Willow. (The nickname 'Daddy TT' comes from little miss Willow.)

For over 15 years we watched him struggle, so, to finally see him on the other side of this has been nothing short of a dream come true. What an absolute blessing it's been to have him back. Spending time with him in a family setting for special occasions, holidays, birthdays, weekend activities, and celebrating milestones, wasn't something we ever thought would happen again. Let alone did we ever think we'd hear him talk about dreams of buying a house and getting married one day. We are overjoyed to have a front row seat watching him accomplish his goals, while maintaining a sobor and full life. TJ is described by his loved ones as energetic, fearless, determined, confident, strong, HILARIOUS, strong-willed, bull-headed, and compassionate. Anyone who's ever been in the same room with him will undoubtedly remember his ridiculous laugh.. that throaty, raspy, high pitched, exclamation-point of a laugh... ya know, like a rooster! HA! As a brother, he gives the best hugs, and he's so much fun to do any activity with; whether it's doing a chore like yard work, or a spontaneous activity of kayaking, fishing, or just getting our dogs together for a play date.

Earlier this year, TJ decided he wanted to start giving back to the community that he'd been on the wrong side of, for so long, by starting a Non-Profit Organization, The Weeping Willow Foundation & All Free Cutz. More information for this non-profit and how you can contribute, is available on both Facebook pages: The Weeping Willow Foundation and All Free Cutz. TJ and Megan spend their free time driving to and collecting donations of clothing, food, toiletries and more for local shelters, treatment centers, and various missions in the Baltimore/DC Metro area. They hold regularly scheduled FREE hair cutting events at, The Jude House, Mission Possible Ministries, Beans and Bread, and The Baltimore Station.

On Saturday September 16, after soaking up the last bit of summer sun in Ocean City for Bike Week, TJ was 30 minutes from home, on his motorcycle, just after 9 p.m., when he was hit by a Nissan sedan. Thankfully & most importantly, he is alive; TJ suffered two broken legs- a compound fracture to the left femur, right knee dislocation, torn ACL, MCL, and PCL on the left knee, bruising on his lungs, and various other tears in major tendons and ligaments. For a brief period after the accident, after being flown to UMD in Largo, he lost blood flow to his lower left leg, and was rushed into emergency surgery, which took 12 hours. TJ still has a series of surgeries down the line. Currently he is in the ICU, eventually he'll be transferred to a regular room, and after that, he'll be moved to a rehabilitation center. TJ's road to recovery will be months-long, arduous, mentally, physically, and emotionally challenging, and unfortunately due to his past, incredibly painful. We know with enough positivity and encouragement, he will find the strength to get through, and come back stronger than he was before.

While TJ recovers, he will not have an income; and while Megan does work, she also has three young children in school and in sports. Megan obviously has a lot on her plate while she maintains her children's needs, her own needs, as well as TJ's, so all donations will be sent directly to Megan as supplemental income for rent, bills, gas, groceries, household responsibilities, anything TJ may need while he's in the hospital, or for when he comes home. We'll continue to update everyone as things progress.

Thank you all for your prayers, love, support, and for any donations for TJ and his family as he embarks on this journey. Please also share as much and as often as possible.