Help Matt Fly Again!
Donation protected
What Happened:
Matt had just begun living out his childhood dream of helping others learn how to fly when his life took a tragic turn on Sunday, August 11th. During a routine flight, his helicopter crashed, clipping a building on the way down in Allentown, Pennsylvania about 90 minutes north of Philadelphia. The causes for this incident are unknown, as the FAA is currently completing a thorough investigation, but given Matt's obsessive commitment to safety, there are clues that he was attempting to make an emergency landing to save himself and the passenger.
How’s Matt Currently:
He has endured a lot of pain thus far. Matt suffered multiple spinal fractures, including a cervical fracture in his neck, as well as suffering from a traumatic brain injury that’s full extent is unknown. The staff at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has been taking fantastic care of him in the ICU. The two initial surgeries to repair and stabilize his spine have been successful, and he has remained heavily sedated to allow his body and mind time to heal.
What’s Next:
The road ahead will remain a long one. While Matt has shown signs of being able to move all of his limbs, his physical recovery will likely take months, and the cognitive and emotional recovery will last years even with proper care. The outreach and support for Matt and his family have been much appreciated during this trying time, and they are blessed to have a network of family and friends offering to help. At this time the best thing we can do is organize these efforts to provide funds to support Matt's recovery.
How Can You Help:
Many have asked how they can directly help in this recovery effort and this page has been created to give Matt and his family the boost they need to get him off the ground. Any donation you can provide will go to fund medical costs and treatment at St. Luke’s until he is strong enough to be transported to a longer-term care facility. These funds will be withdrawn directly by Lewis and Carol McMillan (Matt’s parents) who will be directly responsible for all expenses and disbursal of funds during Matt’s recovery. We cannot thank you all enough for your help in this effort. Please ‘like’ and share this story to get the word out. Together we can all help Matt fly again!
Matt had just begun living out his childhood dream of helping others learn how to fly when his life took a tragic turn on Sunday, August 11th. During a routine flight, his helicopter crashed, clipping a building on the way down in Allentown, Pennsylvania about 90 minutes north of Philadelphia. The causes for this incident are unknown, as the FAA is currently completing a thorough investigation, but given Matt's obsessive commitment to safety, there are clues that he was attempting to make an emergency landing to save himself and the passenger.
How’s Matt Currently:
He has endured a lot of pain thus far. Matt suffered multiple spinal fractures, including a cervical fracture in his neck, as well as suffering from a traumatic brain injury that’s full extent is unknown. The staff at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has been taking fantastic care of him in the ICU. The two initial surgeries to repair and stabilize his spine have been successful, and he has remained heavily sedated to allow his body and mind time to heal.
What’s Next:
The road ahead will remain a long one. While Matt has shown signs of being able to move all of his limbs, his physical recovery will likely take months, and the cognitive and emotional recovery will last years even with proper care. The outreach and support for Matt and his family have been much appreciated during this trying time, and they are blessed to have a network of family and friends offering to help. At this time the best thing we can do is organize these efforts to provide funds to support Matt's recovery.
How Can You Help:
Many have asked how they can directly help in this recovery effort and this page has been created to give Matt and his family the boost they need to get him off the ground. Any donation you can provide will go to fund medical costs and treatment at St. Luke’s until he is strong enough to be transported to a longer-term care facility. These funds will be withdrawn directly by Lewis and Carol McMillan (Matt’s parents) who will be directly responsible for all expenses and disbursal of funds during Matt’s recovery. We cannot thank you all enough for your help in this effort. Please ‘like’ and share this story to get the word out. Together we can all help Matt fly again!
Fundraising team (2)
Jessie Adams
Organizer
Raised $2,855 from 38 donations
Bethlehem, PA
Lewis McMillan
Beneficiary
Katie Yergert
Team member
Raised $325 from 4 donations
This team raised $11,674 from 90 other donations.
