Help Rachel's recovery

Hi, my name is Adriaan Ferris, Rachel's rugby coach at Life West. Last Saturday, in a preseason game, Rachel was hospitalized with a suspected spinal injury in what can only be described as a freak accident.

Immediately post-injury, EMTs took her to Stanford Hospital. A CAT scan taken on Saturday night showed no breaks in the bones of her neck and no bleeding on her brain. Multiple MRIs have also come back clean. On Sunday evening, she was taken off the ventilator and could breathe on her own, overnight.

We know that she has suffered trauma to her nervous system, and tests continue to finalize the exact extent of the problem. We do not know how bad the issue is now and only hope this is a temporary state.

The medical team continues to monitor her brain function.

Many of you who know Rachel know that she is a fighter, and she needs to be as she fights her way to recovery from this traumatic injury. As of Monday afternoon, some 48 hours after the incident, she is still in the ICU, being monitored.

There is a long road to recovery ahead for Rachel.

We are reaching out to raise funds to help Rachel and her family pay for medical expenses.