Helping Jon and His Family

On April 13th around 10PM, my brother Jon was involved in a serious motorcycle accident. He was passing through the intersection of Bayshore and Hart when an oncoming car approached the yellow caution light, made a left turn, and T-Boned Jon in the process. The impact caused him to fly off his bike, through the electric cross walk post and ultimately collide into the traffic light’s metal post. It is by God’s amazing grace that my brother is alive!

He was trauma alerted to Lee Memorial and suffered a broken left femur, lung contusions, left arm laceration, road rash and internal bleeding in his spleen. He was wearing a helmet, so he did not experience any head or spinal injuries, thankfully. He underwent surgery to  place a rod in his femur—but, during his surgery, his oxygen levels decreased rather dramatically and the medical personnel arrived at the  conclusion that he suffered a fat embolism. He also had a CAT scan—during this extremely mentally and physically taxing time—and it was discovered that he had blood clots on his lungs. He was placed on blood thinners to help dissolve the clots, but this caused swelling and         internal bleeding into his severely compromised leg. The swelling caused compartment syndrome and he had emergent limb saving surgery on Saturday 4/17 to help decompress the swelling. The surgery went well and the swelling decreased, but the swelling caused possible nerve damage and loss of motor function to his foot. Additionally, because of the blood clot, he needed to go back on the blood       thinners which caused an increase in his internal bleeding—specifically around his damaged spleen. The blood thinner was stopped again,  and he is being monitored for any increases pertaining to his internal bleeding. He has received 7 units of blood in-total. His doctors have    said it could be months before he regains feeling in his foot, but we are praising the Lord again—because Jon is already feeling what he describes as “lightning bolts”  shooting through his left foot, and he has actually moved it—slightly. Though these are great signs there is still the lack of feeling unfortunately, but we pray as each days passes that the nerves will begin to function and feeling in his foot will come back.   Jon has, and still is, suffering some serious bodily injuries and multiple post-op complications, but we are praising God that Jon is still with us and still fighting.  He had his fourth and final surgery on Monday the 28th and after two weeks in the hospital received the surprising news yesterday, the 27th, that he was going home. Throughout this time, Jon has remained in good spirits and still throws jokes around when he has the energy. He has started some light physical therapy in the hospital, but it has been difficult and extremely painful for him. He hopes to return home with intensive outpatient  therapy but will need a great deal of dedicated help at home. Rachel (Jon’s lovely wife) has been a warrior through this, and has been by Jon’s side from the start. She has been the one to push for several tests that have showed the blood clots, his bleeding spleen, and much     more. Thanks to her, a few of the tests on Jon that might not have been run, were run—and we, in part, accredit her knowledge and know-how with Jon’s current condition. The positive trajectory he seems to be on, at this juncture, may not have been quite so positive were it not for Rachel.

When I had a chance to finally see my brother this past week, I could hear some concerns of theirs financially. Attending to Jon has taken Rachel away from her job for almost two weeks with no pay. Due to the extent of my brother’s injuries, it could be 6+ months before he is   able to go back to work. The road ahead of them—as a family of three—is going to be long and hard. I just wanted to help them in the most  effective manner possible. His medical bills will be immense—potentially devastatingly expensive. That is why I felt compelled to set up        this GO FUND ME with the hope that there may be folks out there who could help bridge this financial gap between now and the rebuilt and reinvigorated Jon. That there may be folks reading this that may have stories of friends or family members who have been in similar circumstances. If you are able and want to come alongside me and my parents to financially help Jon and Rachel, we cannot thank you enough and neither can they. If you are not able to help financially, we certainly understand and deeply appreciate your prayers for Jon’s complete healing, patience during his recovery, and that the peace of God rests on them. We all know that the Lord will provide for them as each day passes, and that God is working all things out for their good and His glory! Thank you so much for taking the time in reading this and feel free to share.