Help Kylan Gain Independence After Injuries

Foreword from Kylan’s family:

Terrifying. Overwhelming. Confusing. Exhausting. Devastating. These are just some of the words that describe our lives since Kylan’s accident. We are also grateful. Grateful that he is alive and his mind, wit and resolve are intact. Grateful for all the friends and family that have reached out. Thank you to everyone for their offers of help and love. We have needed it. Thank you to Cat Weech for spearheading and posting this GoFundMe. Please share Kylan’s GoFundMe page with friends, family and any groups that may be moved by his story.

Thank you,

Kerry (mom), Jerry (dad), Skye (sister), and Madeline (girlfriend)

Kylan’s story:

Kylan was involved in a bicycle accident on August 6 th in which he went over a 35+ foot bridge in Seattle and landed on the train tracks and rocks below. When he arrived at Harborview his pulse was in the mid 20’s and his blood pressure was dangerously low. He has spinal injuries, broken ribs, a broken pelvis in multiple spots, lacerated liver, broken ankle, shattered heel, a deep large puncture wound, and serious scrapes and bruises all over. He has undergone two spinal surgeries where C5 was replaced with a cage, C1 was repaired, and C3 through C7 were fused both front and back. He has undergone other surgeries as well for the rest of his injuries.

Kylan is still at Harborview where his injury is classified as a complete C5 spinal cord injury which results in him being paralyzed from the chest down.

After spending 19 days in the trauma ICU, he was moved to the trauma rehabilitation floor of Harborview. In rehab, Kylan works with occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech pathologists, and respiratory therapists. Weaning off a ventilator was an extremely difficult process for Kylan. He fought through broken ribs, a few rounds of pneumonia, pulmonary embolisms, and increasing bodily pain to get off the ventilator and breathe on his own. He was on the ventilator for 6 weeks and was unable to speak during this period, which made communicating his basic needs and concerns to us to be very challenging. Currently, due to the hardware in his throat from his spinal surgeries he is aspirating which is causing more rounds of pneumonia, resulting in fluid in his lungs as well as excess mucus secretions. This is

extremely dangerous since he cannot cough without specialized machines and expert assistance. It leads to low oxygen and episodes where he cannot breathe because of these issues. This is possibly delaying his release from the hospital.

Despite all the pain and challenges, he has remained 100% Kylan with his patience, wit and personality. He is looking forward to petting his cat Branson again and putting the engagement ring that he had just purchased on the finger of his longtime girlfriend Madeline. Kylan enjoys hanging out with friends and family, biking, fishing, hiking, camping, playing with Branson, and is quite the foodie and cooks up grandiose meals for his loved ones. His latest adventure was a solo week-long bicycle trip through Denali National Forest in Alaska, an adventure in which he embarked after finishing up field work in Alaska for his job as an Environmental Scientist.

Not only will the journey be extremely difficult, it will also be expensive. Kylan will need to purchase a wheelchair accessible van for the many doctor visits and rehab sessions in Seattle. He will also need support in hospital expenses, loss of income, caretaking, accessibility equipment, and renovations to his family home to make it accessible. We believe in Kylan and are asking for your help in his recovery and adapting to his new life. Thank you in advance for your kindness and thoughtfulness. Your gift will help make a big difference in Kylan’s life.

With Sincere Gratitude,

Team Kylan