Help Ronald Carpenter with medical bills

On the evening of May 6th, 2021 Ron took a serious fall down some stairs.  He fell forward and hit his head on the concrete causing his neck to snap backwards.  This caused the disks in his neck to dislocate and almost sever his spinal cord and leaving his upper spine unstable. The paramedics were able to stabilize his neck with a collar and transport him to Aspirus Wausau Hospital.   Upon arrival at the hospital they did an CAT scan and MRI to check for bleeding in the brain, both came back normal.   Up to this point Ron was fairly stable, he was in a lot of pain and his face was swollen & bruised from hitting the concrete, but he was coherent and able to speak.  Now their main concern was his neck injury, he still had movement, but his sense of feeling was diminished due to spinal bruising.  On May 7th, at around 11pm, we received a call from the hospital that Ron was un-responsive and they feared that he had a stroke.  Due to the extent of his injuries they could no longer help him here in Wausau and he was transported to the UW Madison Health Care Center by helicopter and  they confirmed that he had a stroke.  When he fell several blood vessels in the neck were broken and as the blood pooled clots were formed, and one broke away and travelled to his brain.  The doctors at Madison gave him clot busting drugs, unfortunately these didn’t work and they had to remove the clot manually, through a vein in his groin. By the time the clot was removed almost 48 hours had passed, and we all know the longer the clot is there the more damage is done to the brain.  The next day after the clot was removed he still remained mostly un-responsive, responding only to painful stimuli.  On the 2nd day he began to wake up very slowly, and only for short periods, and his recovery has been up and down since then.  He developed pneumonia, which was caught early and treated.  One week later, on May 14th, the doctors determined that he was stable enough to be transported back to Aspirus Wausau Hospital.

As I’m writing this on May 20th, he has regained most of his alertness, but has lost the use of most of his right side, and has also lost some vision. They are still very worried about how unstable the vertebrae of his neck are, one wrong move and he could be completely paralyzed.  Due to Covid restrictions Tony is the only one allowed to visit, but we have all talked to him on the phone, he knows who we all are and he knows what happened and what’s going on.  Fortunately his room is on the first floor and we were able to give him a window visit, and talk through the cell phone.

At this point we have little idea on the extent of his medical bills.  He will be in the hospital here for 4-6 weeks.  When he is stable enough, he will go back to Madison to have his neck fused.  After that there will be months/years of physical therapy, rehabilitation, and possibly the need for long term care.

We are looking for help with his medical bills and other debts that he has incurred. Since Tony is Ron’s only child this burden has fallen solely to our family.

If you know Ron, you know he has a great sense of humor, and that still shows through along with his faith in Jesus his Savior. If you are not able to help financially, prayers are very much appreciated.

Here is a little background on Ron:  Many of you know him through baseball.  Ron has been a staple in the Wausau baseball community for decades.  He managed and coached the Wausau All Stars and later the Wisconsin River Rats.  In 1987 Ron was united with his son Tony in only a way that God could have planned.   Tony was 15 at the time and living in foster care in Illinois.  Due to many circumstances and 22 foster care placements, Tony made the decision to put himself up for adoption.  After a series of very FORTUNATE events, Ron adopted Tony!  So, that was the beginning of our little family. 

God’s Blessings,

Tony & Jamie, and our daughters (Ron’s granddaughters) Tristyn, Madilyn, & Carrie-anne.