Kabigya's Recovery & Rehabilitation - Traumatic Brain Injury

I am Kabita Karki, and I had to leave my two toddler kids with my husband in Pennsylvania to fly to Texas on April 30, 2024, to care for my brother, Kabigya Raj Karki, who had suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from a motorbike accident.

Kabigya is a funny, friendly, kind, and loving 22-year-old soon-to-be college graduate with a Computer Science major from the University of Texas at Arlington. He was scheduled to walk for his graduation this May 2024. During his free time, he loved beatboxing, cooking Nepali food, playing video games and, unknown to me, riding a motorbike. He came to the U.S. from Nepal in 2019 to start his undergraduate studies.

On the morning of April 29, 2024, he got into a motorbike accident half a mile away from their apartment in Dallas, Texas. Details of the crash are still unknown, but Kabigya was found unresponsive a meter away from the bike. Kabigya has been in the Intensive Care Unit since then. Since Kabigya had not started his new role after his college graduation yet, he did not have health insurance at the time of the accident.

Soon after the accident, Kabigya was taken to Baylor Scott & White -Grapevine hospital by the emergency medical services with TBI and was immediately put on mechanical ventilation. He suffered a skull and right face fracture, and his internal brain bleeding did not stop until 24 hrs after the accident. He was not responsive for 4 days. Since April 5, 2024, he has been able to breathe on his own. However, his cognition is next to none, his long-term memory is all mixed up and his short-term memory only lasts for 90 seconds. He is very impulsive and is easily agitated. He cannot control his right hand and his brain still has blood from the earlier Brain Bleed.

Currently, I am uncertain about the expenses surrounding his treatment and recovery without health insurance and I welcome any donations that will be used for his recovery. His discharge plan is still uncertain due to the complexity around his acute care at Baylor. After getting discharged from Baylor, he will need to be enrolled in an inpatient rehabilitation facility for a few weeks as a TBI patient, followed by many other outpatient neurological, physical, and psychological rehabilitation. It is certain that his recovery journey is going to be very long and expensive. Once he is stable to be discharged, he will require 24-hour supervision. I am the only family he has in the U.S and to add further complexity and difficulty to his care, our parents’ U.S. medical/tourist visas were denied. Since the accident, my wonderful team at Johnson and Johnson have made adjustments so that I am able to continue my work as a Senior Automation Engineer remotely from Baylor Scott & White -Grapevine hospital, TX while also caring for my brother who at times has severe agitation.

WHAT THE FUNDS WILL BE USED FOR:

In this phase, the funds will help with Kabigya’s medical bills not covered by any possible financial aid for his current acute care at Baylor, offset future medical co-payments, pharmaceutical co-payments, deductibles, tests or treatments not covered or only partially covered by future insurance; out-of-network specialists and therapies; and his inpatient physical and neurological rehabilitation therapy. Later on, there may be additional needs associated with at-home care: nursing assistance, outpatient physical and neurological therapy and specialized equipment for therapy to start Kabigya on the path to regaining his physical and cognitive abilities.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for any support you can provide, whether it's a donation, sharing this campaign with your friends and family, or by simply keeping him in your thoughts.