Help Mike Get Back to Being A Dad!

On September 30th, 2022, my cousin Michael Grant, was riding his dirtbike with his friend and his bike got away from him while crossing some fallen trees. Although Mike was wearing all of his protective equipment, when he landed on his back, it, unfortunately, wasn't enough. When he tried to get up, Mike realized that he couldn't move or feel his legs and that he had suffered an injury from what he thought was a slight fall.

Fortunately, his friend Paul was nearby and saw the smoke from the bike, and was able to call for emergency medical assistance. Mike was rushed to UMass Memorial Medical Center and underwent emergency surgery that afternoon. Mike learned that he had undiagnosed spinal stenosis, and due to that, the swelling in his spinal cord caused a severe thoracic spinal cord injury from the T7 to the T12 vertebrae. Mike spent six days in intensive care and was transferred to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston.

Mike's prognosis is that he may never walk again, but there is a chance, and Mike is fighting as hard as he can to get there.

Since being at Spaulding, Mike has been in intensive physical therapy and has impressed his therapists, doctors and nurses with his positive attitude and determination to recover from his life-changing injury.

Mike is a father of two children, Liam and Michaela, and enjoyed a very active lifestyle with them before his accident. He loves playing soccer, lacrosse, skateboarding, snowboarding, hiking and mountain biking and was sharing his passion for athletics with his kids.

Mike is a 13-year Massachusetts Department of Correction Officer, helping to ensure the safety and security of Massachusetts and the prison system.

Mike is incredibly caring and generous, learning from an early age as an Eagle Scout that giving back to his community was an essential part of his life. He has always exemplified the values he learned during his Scout career and continues to this day to live up to the Scout Law and Oath.

This accident has upended Mike's life as a father, and we are raising money to help Mike obtain the things that he needs to get back to spending time with his family and raising his kids. Mike uses a wheelchair for his day-to-day mobility and needs help getting to a situation where he can live independently with his disability.

The money we are raising here will be contributed to helping Mike with the following:

Finding and securing a single-floor home with an attached garage that can be outfitted with wheelchair accessibility ramps, furniture and fixtures. The list is long as few items are designed for use by disabled people; things we take for granted, such as beds, chairs, showers, and sinks, all need to be replaced with accessible versions.

In addition, Mike needs a wheelchair, an automatic transmission vehicle that can be outfitted for hand controls, and many other expenses to help him transition to an accessible lifestyle.

We sincerely thank you for any donations or sharing of this page on social media. Mike is a wonderful father, brother, son, uncle, cousin, friend and human being, and we all want to help him get back to living his life with his kids and the rest of his family as he should be.