Help Mike Kemper with his recovery
Donation protected
Hello, I'm Dan, Mike's twin brother, and Daisy, his sister-in-law. As most of you probably already know Mike was a volunteer firefighter for about ten years with the Boring Fire District and Clackamas Fire. He also coached youth football for about five seasons with Barlow Youth Football. Mike absolutely loved doing both of these! In 2014 Mike became a material handler at IBEW Local 48 and he began the electrical apprenticeship in 2017 with the goal of becoming a journeyman electrician by 2022. Mike was very good at working with his hands, equipment and in teams and was thriving in this work environment.
On January 2, 2019 Mike was at work and fell backwards. During the fall his hardhat fell off and he struck the back of his head on a concrete curb. Nobody knows exactly what happened or if Mike lost consciousness. Mike was transported to the hospital via ambulance. Over the next week or two Mike's condition got worse. He had all the normal concussion symptoms you would expect but he also had a very difficult time with walking, lights, noise and couldn't communicate verbally for about eight weeks. After two years Mike is still struggling to do tasks that he was capable of doing prior to the accident, he has had to take a break from classes at the apprenticeship for two years and continues to need medical therapy. Today Mike is still struggling with vision problems and any stress affects his balance, speech and puts his autonomic nervous system into fight or flight mode.
Over the past two years Mike has received speech, occupational, physical and vision therapy. He was diagnosed with a visual midline shift a year after the accident and received specialized vision care that helped him make drastic improvement with his vision, speech, hearing and balance. One of the biggest challenges Mike has faced throughout this stressful time has not just been from having a traumatic brain injury but insurance has denied paying for much of his treatment and lost time from work. Mike needs even more help to get back to where he was before he hit his head.
Mike's doctors have advised him to seek help from Cognitive Fx, a Post Concussion Syndrome specialty clinic run by Dr. Alina K Fong in Provo, Utah using state of the art imaging not utilized here in Portland. Dr. Fong has even partnered with Tom Brady to open a clinic in Boston to treat NFL players struggling with their post-concussion symptoms. In their clinic in Utah they are treating Olympic athletes, professional athletes as well as everyday people from all over the world struggling with post concussion symptoms like Mike. One week of treatment at this facility can cost over $13,000 but the results they are achieving through this therapy are amazing. They hold a lot of hope for Mike to return to work at his previous capacity, hope for returning to school, hope for his future.
Mike can't do this alone. He needs your help. The cost of treatment is not covered by insurance and is very significant. Payment is due at the time of arrival at the clinic. He also has to pay for travel expenses to get there and stay for over a week and take more time off work for the therapy. The financial burden from this accident is getting unbearable. He has paid for his own glasses, his own doctors, his own vision therapy but those costs are minimal compared to this next step.
The urgency to Mike's situation is that the insurance company wants to close his case. They want him to accept his current status as final which would mean he wouldn't be able to finish the apprenticeship and would have devastating effects on his future. They are denying that he has post-concussion syndrome. Mike is not only fighting for his health, he is fighting the insurance company. For them it is another case but for Mike this is the rest of his life that will be impacted.
Mike spent a lot of time volunteering for his community and now he needs his community's help. Your assistance with Mike's medical bills has the ability to change his life for the better. You can help him have hope for his future. His goals are simple. He wants his "head fixed." He wants to become an electrician and be able to go to work every day and make a living like everyone else.
Mike is also a pretty private guy and doesn't like people to worry about him. The decision for him to okay a crowd funding page was not an easy decision or something he took lightly. He appreciates any help you can provide. Thank you very much.
On January 2, 2019 Mike was at work and fell backwards. During the fall his hardhat fell off and he struck the back of his head on a concrete curb. Nobody knows exactly what happened or if Mike lost consciousness. Mike was transported to the hospital via ambulance. Over the next week or two Mike's condition got worse. He had all the normal concussion symptoms you would expect but he also had a very difficult time with walking, lights, noise and couldn't communicate verbally for about eight weeks. After two years Mike is still struggling to do tasks that he was capable of doing prior to the accident, he has had to take a break from classes at the apprenticeship for two years and continues to need medical therapy. Today Mike is still struggling with vision problems and any stress affects his balance, speech and puts his autonomic nervous system into fight or flight mode.
Over the past two years Mike has received speech, occupational, physical and vision therapy. He was diagnosed with a visual midline shift a year after the accident and received specialized vision care that helped him make drastic improvement with his vision, speech, hearing and balance. One of the biggest challenges Mike has faced throughout this stressful time has not just been from having a traumatic brain injury but insurance has denied paying for much of his treatment and lost time from work. Mike needs even more help to get back to where he was before he hit his head.
Mike's doctors have advised him to seek help from Cognitive Fx, a Post Concussion Syndrome specialty clinic run by Dr. Alina K Fong in Provo, Utah using state of the art imaging not utilized here in Portland. Dr. Fong has even partnered with Tom Brady to open a clinic in Boston to treat NFL players struggling with their post-concussion symptoms. In their clinic in Utah they are treating Olympic athletes, professional athletes as well as everyday people from all over the world struggling with post concussion symptoms like Mike. One week of treatment at this facility can cost over $13,000 but the results they are achieving through this therapy are amazing. They hold a lot of hope for Mike to return to work at his previous capacity, hope for returning to school, hope for his future.
Mike can't do this alone. He needs your help. The cost of treatment is not covered by insurance and is very significant. Payment is due at the time of arrival at the clinic. He also has to pay for travel expenses to get there and stay for over a week and take more time off work for the therapy. The financial burden from this accident is getting unbearable. He has paid for his own glasses, his own doctors, his own vision therapy but those costs are minimal compared to this next step.
The urgency to Mike's situation is that the insurance company wants to close his case. They want him to accept his current status as final which would mean he wouldn't be able to finish the apprenticeship and would have devastating effects on his future. They are denying that he has post-concussion syndrome. Mike is not only fighting for his health, he is fighting the insurance company. For them it is another case but for Mike this is the rest of his life that will be impacted.
Mike spent a lot of time volunteering for his community and now he needs his community's help. Your assistance with Mike's medical bills has the ability to change his life for the better. You can help him have hope for his future. His goals are simple. He wants his "head fixed." He wants to become an electrician and be able to go to work every day and make a living like everyone else.
Mike is also a pretty private guy and doesn't like people to worry about him. The decision for him to okay a crowd funding page was not an easy decision or something he took lightly. He appreciates any help you can provide. Thank you very much.
Co-organizers (2)
Daisy Kemper
Organizer
Portland, OR
Dan Kemper
Co-organizer