Help Walker Walk Pain-Free Again!

One of the sweetest guys you will ever meet, my brother, Walker Johnson, is fighting a battle that no young adult should be experiencing–debilitating back pain caused from horrible discs and significant nerve damage.

Walker is 25 years old and has the rest of his life ahead of him. Due to the pain that has progressively gotten worse in the last couple of years, he had begun to lose hope that his life would ever be normal again. He is always one to help others, such as his grandmother, when they needed it, but, unfortunately, he is no longer able to do that at this point because of his immobility.

About four years ago, Walker’s back began hurting to the point where he and his mom looked to seek answers. Years of visiting various doctors always resulted in temporary fixes and inconclusive results, leaving Walker wondering if he was ever truly going to be helped and feel physically good again. Some of the things he tried included chiropractic care, physical therapy, regular MRI’s, x-rays, nerve blocks (with drilling), rheumatological testing, two prior orthopedic surgeons, and an autoimmune disease specialist. All of these led to many misdiagnoses and dead ends with no true relief from the pain.

Our mother, Ginger, finally found an orthopedic surgeon specializing in spines that was recommended in Nashville and this had given a slimmer of hope to the sad situation Walker was experiencing. An appointment was scheduled for a Thursday in March and there was anxious excitement as to what he was going to find and if there was any fix for it. Unexpectedly, our mom passed the week before this appointment.

With the physical pain my brother is experiencing, there is much grief and mourning for our mother. He still had hope of good results, and the appointment proved successful, with his doctor seeing “definitive results” on the upright MRI. Walker has three deteriorated discs and one bulging disc in his lower back. The bulging disc is pinching the nerve significantly. This issue has resulted in scoliosis because of the way he has had to live with it due to the pain for the last four years.

The surgeon has expressed he can fix the issues, based on his 30 plus years with similar spinal surgeries. Walker will have to go through a week-long process in the hospital with three different major surgeries that will include many different doctors and staff. This will be the replacement of the discs causing the pain, which will correct the curve in his spine. The surgeon has given resounding hope that Walker will be able to experience a normal, pain-free life again after recovery.

As you might have guessed, Walker has not been able to work for the past number of years due to barely being able to walk or sit for periods of time, let alone bending over or picking something up. We have started this money raising campaign to ease the burden of his dad, Terry, and to be able to give Walker a new start in life after recovering. Over the next days, weeks, and months ahead they will need to be at therapy sessions, doctor appointments, hospital stays, and surgeries. As you can imagine the normal costs of everyday living...such as food, gas, car, etc...the medical costs can be astronomical. There are also medical bills that already exist that add to the expenses. With our mom gone now, there is already so much grief, and the overwhelming costs of the medical things do not help the situation.

From the bottom of our hearts we humbly ask that you share this link with friends and family and if possible in giving (any amount will help).

We thank you greatly for your support and prayers,

Zach and Emilie Curry