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Dustin Golpa, 24, was born in Tampa and raised in south Florida. He is a loving son, caring brother to Tyler and devoted friend to anyone who allowed him to be. He excelled in wrestling growing up and is a self-taught guitarist. His dream was to pursue his love for music and make the world a little less dark, in anyway he could. Dustin stayed out of trouble and was sure to leave an eternal positive imprint on anyone he encountered. It didn’t matter your background, reputation or appearance; Dustin saw the beauty and potential in everyone. He is, in fact, the definition of a mans man. His best friends describe him as nothing less than a perfect gentleman.
On the night of October 23rd, Dustin began his hour long commute back to his parents home in California. He called his best friends in South Florida like he did everyday to catch up and talk about their day. He exclaimed how excited he was to fly down and surprise them to go on a camping trip later in the month and reminded them to check the mail because he sent a “care package” filled with books, nic nacts, musical accessories and anything he felt like they needed. He took care of those around him. He called his father and said he’s on the way but was going to stop quickly to grab a bite at a sushi restaurant. Told him he loved him and hung up.
Dustin was less than 5 minutes from home. As he was making a normal left turn on a 6 lane road, a driver who was not paying attention to her red light proceeded right through the intersection; smashing into Dustin’s driver side. His car, completely totaled and Dustin unconscious began to catch on fire. A nurse who had just gotten off work ran to Dustin and attempted to pull him out of the vehicle. Dustin, being over 6ft was too heavy for the nurse to lift him. By the grace of god, an off duty firefighter and police officer where across the street buying a car at a dealership when they heard the commotion. They immediately ran over and got Dustin out of the vehicle just in time before his car was engulfed in flames. Paramedics arrived and it took them over an hour to stabilize him before it was safe to transport him to the ER.
The doctors were extremely skeptical that Dustin would survive. They urged his parents to make the hardest decision of their lives and give up on their son. Trying to convince them that with all the broken bones, massive amount of swelling and damage to the most crucial parts of his brain and having to go as far as drilling a hole in his skull to release the pressure; it is no life they’d want their son to live being hooked up to life support. But his parents refused to give up. The first week was absolutely brutal. They did not want to lose hope but there was just no good news. Dustin went into respiratory failure, had multiple surgeries in his head, legs and on top of everything his body was trying to fight off an infection.
As each day passed Dustin beat the odds and fought as hard as he could. He wanted to live. The second brain scan showed improvement; but the doctors urged his family to begin preparing themselves for the condition Dustin will be in if/ when he wakes up as it seemed impossible for him to ever come out of a vegetative state.
Still unable to to move Dustin did something miraculous on the second week. He opened his left eye. Whether he was aware or alert we still do not know but that gave everyone who was rooting for him the strength and faith to keep going. Day by day he has since made small victories. They continuously tried to lower his dosage of meds to help him wake up. But he’d react horrobly. Terrified and in excruciating pain Dustin would move his body uncontrollably unable to know what else to do. After what seemed like forever, Dustin one day started to slowly wake up. He squeezed his brother Tyler’s hand and tried his best to mouth ‘I love you’. When his father was at his bedside still, in the intensive care unit, trying to comfort his son he opened his left eye, staring at his father a single tear shed down his face. We knew despite the doctors doubts- he was in there.
After almost 50 days Dustin was finally in stable enough condition to be moved to a smaller hospital to get the absolute best and most attentive treatment. Currently, Dustin can still only open one eye but he still try’s to mouth ‘I love you’ to his loved ones as much as he can. He’s able to give a thumbs up and down when asked questions. It doesn’t seem like much, but after what we all intionally believed would never happen, we are starting to get our beloved Dustin back through little milestones and absolute miracles.
His desire to live is inspirational. He deserves most of the credit but the strength, love, patience,positivity and best care his parents have insured he has been surrounded by 24/7 has without a doubt been sensed and heard by Dustin. This bond the Golpa family shares is something most people dream to be feel apart of once in their life.
As as you could imagine, being in a coma is not cheap. The around the clock care, medicine, surgeries, checkups etc. has already surpassed hundreds of thousands of dollars. The rehabilitation Dustin will have to go through to re teach his body to perform basic skills will be a very very long road and extremely expensive.
No matter how small, any amount will be greatly appreciated to be donated to Dustin’s recovery. There is no amount of words to express our gratitude. If you cannot donate we ask that you share Dustin’s story and this fundraiser. The more people we reach the better.
Thank you to anyone who helps. God bless.
On the night of October 23rd, Dustin began his hour long commute back to his parents home in California. He called his best friends in South Florida like he did everyday to catch up and talk about their day. He exclaimed how excited he was to fly down and surprise them to go on a camping trip later in the month and reminded them to check the mail because he sent a “care package” filled with books, nic nacts, musical accessories and anything he felt like they needed. He took care of those around him. He called his father and said he’s on the way but was going to stop quickly to grab a bite at a sushi restaurant. Told him he loved him and hung up.
Dustin was less than 5 minutes from home. As he was making a normal left turn on a 6 lane road, a driver who was not paying attention to her red light proceeded right through the intersection; smashing into Dustin’s driver side. His car, completely totaled and Dustin unconscious began to catch on fire. A nurse who had just gotten off work ran to Dustin and attempted to pull him out of the vehicle. Dustin, being over 6ft was too heavy for the nurse to lift him. By the grace of god, an off duty firefighter and police officer where across the street buying a car at a dealership when they heard the commotion. They immediately ran over and got Dustin out of the vehicle just in time before his car was engulfed in flames. Paramedics arrived and it took them over an hour to stabilize him before it was safe to transport him to the ER.
The doctors were extremely skeptical that Dustin would survive. They urged his parents to make the hardest decision of their lives and give up on their son. Trying to convince them that with all the broken bones, massive amount of swelling and damage to the most crucial parts of his brain and having to go as far as drilling a hole in his skull to release the pressure; it is no life they’d want their son to live being hooked up to life support. But his parents refused to give up. The first week was absolutely brutal. They did not want to lose hope but there was just no good news. Dustin went into respiratory failure, had multiple surgeries in his head, legs and on top of everything his body was trying to fight off an infection.
As each day passed Dustin beat the odds and fought as hard as he could. He wanted to live. The second brain scan showed improvement; but the doctors urged his family to begin preparing themselves for the condition Dustin will be in if/ when he wakes up as it seemed impossible for him to ever come out of a vegetative state.
Still unable to to move Dustin did something miraculous on the second week. He opened his left eye. Whether he was aware or alert we still do not know but that gave everyone who was rooting for him the strength and faith to keep going. Day by day he has since made small victories. They continuously tried to lower his dosage of meds to help him wake up. But he’d react horrobly. Terrified and in excruciating pain Dustin would move his body uncontrollably unable to know what else to do. After what seemed like forever, Dustin one day started to slowly wake up. He squeezed his brother Tyler’s hand and tried his best to mouth ‘I love you’. When his father was at his bedside still, in the intensive care unit, trying to comfort his son he opened his left eye, staring at his father a single tear shed down his face. We knew despite the doctors doubts- he was in there.
After almost 50 days Dustin was finally in stable enough condition to be moved to a smaller hospital to get the absolute best and most attentive treatment. Currently, Dustin can still only open one eye but he still try’s to mouth ‘I love you’ to his loved ones as much as he can. He’s able to give a thumbs up and down when asked questions. It doesn’t seem like much, but after what we all intionally believed would never happen, we are starting to get our beloved Dustin back through little milestones and absolute miracles.
His desire to live is inspirational. He deserves most of the credit but the strength, love, patience,positivity and best care his parents have insured he has been surrounded by 24/7 has without a doubt been sensed and heard by Dustin. This bond the Golpa family shares is something most people dream to be feel apart of once in their life.
As as you could imagine, being in a coma is not cheap. The around the clock care, medicine, surgeries, checkups etc. has already surpassed hundreds of thousands of dollars. The rehabilitation Dustin will have to go through to re teach his body to perform basic skills will be a very very long road and extremely expensive.
No matter how small, any amount will be greatly appreciated to be donated to Dustin’s recovery. There is no amount of words to express our gratitude. If you cannot donate we ask that you share Dustin’s story and this fundraiser. The more people we reach the better.
Thank you to anyone who helps. God bless.
Organizer and beneficiary
Taylor Ferguson
Organizer
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Julian Golpa
Beneficiary