Help Knut and family with his road to recovery

Knut is an army veteran and current corrections officer with the Lewis County Sheriff’s department. He’s the father of 3 kids, and grandfather of several grandkids who love him!

From what we understand, Knut was in a 6-car pile-up on the I-5 freeway in Olympia, Washington in October 2 after being rear ended by a refrigeration van going full speed, which propelled them into the cars in front of them. He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

So far we know that he received a blood transfusion and has had injuries to his kidney, liver, and the blood vessels supplying his bowels. He received staples in his head for large lacerations. He has 6 broken ribs, multiple broken vertebrae and an injured spinal cord, the extent of which is still unknown.

Today he underwent his second abdominal surgery, which went well. He will go through two spinal surgeries this weekend. He has been sedated and on a ventilator, and will likely remain that way through the upcoming surgeries. He has not been responsive to stimuli below the waist yet. We do not yet know the prognosis but it is possible that he will be paralyzed from the waist down.

He has a long road ahead of him and will need to severely alter his daily life. His children have flown from across the country to be at his side and will remain here for the foreseeable near future.

Friends have asked us to create a gofundme to help assist with travel expenses, meals, airfare, temporary lodging for the family, as well as medical expenses that may arise.

There is still much to be determined, and we don’t know what expenses will arise, what insurance will cover, or what recovery will look like.

What we do know is that it will be a long road to recovery, whatever the outcome.

Thank you so much for your kindness, generosity, and support. It means the world to feel your love, support, and prayers.

Please continue to keep Knut and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

We will provide updates as we get information. Thank you!

UPDATE 10/6:

Hi everyone! Thank you all so much for your support and kindness. We are blown away and so incredibly grateful!! Thank you so much!

We to give an update. My dad made it through his second abdominal surgery on Friday and things went well! No more active bleeding!

He currently in the OR for his first of two spinal surgeries. This first one will focus on the thoracic spine. This mid-back region is the area that sustained the most damage, and is the most important issue to address now that the internal bleeding has been resolved.

We are now beginning to try and think about what things may look like in the near future and determine how long we will need to stay close by. Since none of us live locally, we will be looking into making a schedule amongst ourselves to ensure he always has one of us with him while he remains in critical condition. We will need to secure a short-term or month-to-month furnished rental to act as our home base until he is stable enough for us to be a bit further away, he can be transferred to a lower acuity facility closer to his home, or until we can make more permanent arrangements. There is a lot still unknown and his outcome is yet to be determined. Hopefully we will know more after his surgeries.

Your donations, generosity, love, support, encouragement, cards, and food has already eased our stress and will continue to help us immensely. It will be a logistical challenge to be here to support and speak on behalf of our father, while also trying to keep our families afloat back at our respective homes.

We don’t know how long he will be in his unresponsive state, and are looking forward to the completion of his surgeries and to see how he does once he is weaned off of sedation and mechanical ventilation.

Thank you so much again! We feel so loved and supported. Please continue praying and sending healing vibes!