Help Peter Paul
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On Wednesday, August 2, Peter Paul was hit by a falling tree while just beginning his vacation in his favorite place on earth, Lake Opinicon in Chaffey’s Locks, Canada. There was no storm or bad weather, just a completely terrible freak accident.
With the help of family members and friends who are just like family members, PP was tended to immediately and an ambulance got him to Kingston, Ontario hospital. PP is extremely lucky to be alive.
His injuries are vast. The tree basically destroyed his back, T5 and all muscles and tendons. He had immediate surgery to stabilize those. He had gashes all over his head and one wound so deep his skull was showing. Doctors said the tree was inches away from decapitating him.
He also has a major fracture in C2 neck, a broken sternum, 10 broken ribs, many of which were broken in two places, a bruised heart, a collapsed and cut lung, and bleeding on the brain. He is on breathing and feeding tubes, along with a chest tube for air release needs. PP has had sensation in his legs and feet, and at one point, following the emergency spine surgery, he was able to move his toes a bit as well. He has not had any mobility for days now, but the sensation continues. This is incredibly rare for his injuries, so the doctors remain hopeful for future lower-body mobility. He does, however, have great movement in his arms and hands. It may be up to four months before we know if he will ever walk again.
Doctors have tried once to remove the tubes so we can begin organizing transport back to the US, but due to the extensive rib and lung damage, breathing independently right now is just too hard. His medical team is now confident in us being able to get him transported soon but due to the respirator and chest tubes, he will need to be sent via private flight medivac; insurance won’t cover any transport to Maryland. The medical bills, aside from the transport, will be intense, as PP is not an insured citizen here. We are hopeful for the supplemental Medicare insurance to agree to cover some costs here, but the road ahead for PP is long and his needs will be intense.
We will be aiming to keep this page as updated as possible on his recovery and next steps, as well as the needs for this fiscal party of this journey.
With the help of family members and friends who are just like family members, PP was tended to immediately and an ambulance got him to Kingston, Ontario hospital. PP is extremely lucky to be alive.
His injuries are vast. The tree basically destroyed his back, T5 and all muscles and tendons. He had immediate surgery to stabilize those. He had gashes all over his head and one wound so deep his skull was showing. Doctors said the tree was inches away from decapitating him.
He also has a major fracture in C2 neck, a broken sternum, 10 broken ribs, many of which were broken in two places, a bruised heart, a collapsed and cut lung, and bleeding on the brain. He is on breathing and feeding tubes, along with a chest tube for air release needs. PP has had sensation in his legs and feet, and at one point, following the emergency spine surgery, he was able to move his toes a bit as well. He has not had any mobility for days now, but the sensation continues. This is incredibly rare for his injuries, so the doctors remain hopeful for future lower-body mobility. He does, however, have great movement in his arms and hands. It may be up to four months before we know if he will ever walk again.
Doctors have tried once to remove the tubes so we can begin organizing transport back to the US, but due to the extensive rib and lung damage, breathing independently right now is just too hard. His medical team is now confident in us being able to get him transported soon but due to the respirator and chest tubes, he will need to be sent via private flight medivac; insurance won’t cover any transport to Maryland. The medical bills, aside from the transport, will be intense, as PP is not an insured citizen here. We are hopeful for the supplemental Medicare insurance to agree to cover some costs here, but the road ahead for PP is long and his needs will be intense.
We will be aiming to keep this page as updated as possible on his recovery and next steps, as well as the needs for this fiscal party of this journey.
Please share this with anyone you know who would want to be connected to his story.
So much love from us to all of you,
John, Scotty, and Tracy
So much love from us to all of you,
John, Scotty, and Tracy
Co-organizers (3)
Tracy Hanley
Organizer
Baltimore, MD
John Hanley
Beneficiary
Scotty Marie Hanley
Co-organizer