Help PJ Overcome His Accident Trauma

On Wednesday June 19th, PJ was hit by a car as he walked in a crosswalk at the Oceanfront around 930pm. The car hit him and someone else. Video evidence shows the driver hitting them as they were doing the right thing in the crosswalk with the lights lit up.

Initially, PJ was taken to VB General Hospital as a trauma patient. He was released not long after only told he had a spinal fracture and to “go home and ice it”. He complained multiple times there and leg, hip and groin pain. Not a single X-ray was taken.

He eventually made it over to Norfolk General on Thursday June 20th where it was discovered he also had multiple pelvic fractures and required surgery asap.

On Friday June 21 he went in for what was thought to be a 1.5 hr surgery. It took 5 hours. Initially he thought he MAY just need a single screw but his pelvis was far too unstable and required a plate and multiple screws.

It is Wednesday June 26th and he is still in the hospital at Norfolk although he just moved over to In Patient Rehab where he will be for the next 14 days.

Once home, PJ will be non weight bearing on his left leg for a MINIMUM of 4 months. He will be relying on a walker and a wheelchair to help him get by. He will also need a special chair for the shower and a few upgrades to the bathroom to be more suitable for his needs.

He has retained a lawyer to help navigate the financial and legal parts however he is facing many hardships the next coming months. His construction job did not provide him medical benefits.

PJ is out of work at least through the end of the year. He may not even ever be able to return to commercial roofing. For now his goals will be regaining strength and eventually walking on his own. Once he is home he will still have many weeks of PT/OT.

While the lawyers will be taking care of medical bills and PJ will hopefully get a small pay out for all this he is just happy the medical will be taken care of.

The hospital is helping him get state insurance at this time which will be helpful but again not right away. He has a few immediate needs that insurance won’t cover bc they already covered something else. He will need a wheelchair, a special bath bench that extends out of the tub, some matting for around the house, a very extendable shower head and more.

While he is hoping to eventually get approved for temporary disability that also is a waiting game and not helpful to the bills that are beginning to pile up. Rent, utilities, cell phones and also his child support payments. Child support came directly from his paychecks and now without a paycheck his children will be going without that funding.

PJ is lucky to be alive and he knows it. He also knows he has a great group of friends and is counting on them and some good old fashioned humor to get him through this.

Any little bit helps and goes to helping PJ with his current medical and financial needs and he continues to navigate these next few months. His focus should be on healing and keeping his spirits up and not on the fact he feels like he is now a burden.

We will keep updating of his progress and appreciate all the calls and texts.

Let’s get PJ back on his feet so it’s more fun when you make fun of him now !