As many of you know, over a year ago my boyfriend Ryan was on duty when he suffered a severe spinal injury while responding to a medical aid. Ryan is only 28 years old and has dedicated his entire adult life to helping others. He spent years as a wild land firefighter on a hand crew and now works as a first responder. For those who aren’t aware of his whole story I will post it separately below. Although from the outside Ryan may appear to look normal he has been suffering from extreme pain, spinal cord damage, severe nerve damage, neurological deficits, visual impairment, left sided deficits, multiple surgeries, and so much more. His medication regimen includes intense narcotics and nerve medications that have taken a heavy toll. Ryan’s injury has been absolutely debilitating for our family physically, emotionally and financially. We have been desperately fighting every day since to help him recover.

On Monday, September 15th, Ryan lost feeling from the waist down and was unable to support himself and had lost partial bladder control. I rushed him to Sutter Roseville emergency department where we received more devastating news. About 2 weeks prior we had been made aware that the doctors found another serious problem in Ryan's lower spine. On top of his neck injury he now had another spinal injury that we were concerned about. Once we got to the emergency room Ryan was priority triaged and taken for an emergency MRI. He was immediately admitted to the hospital and consulted neurosurgeons. Monday night the doctors informed us the MRI showed that Ryan's injury had now become severe. The MRI showed he now had severe spinal stenosis that was compressing nerves and that the slippage of his vertebrae had increased from a grade 1 to a grade 2 classification. By that night Ryan had still not regained any sensation or function of his lower body. To avoid him undergoing another emergency surgery the neurosurgeon decided to try something less invasive first. Tuesday morning Ryan underwent an emergency IR epidural procedure. Thankfully, directly after the procedure Ryan was able to walk and the tingling in his legs had stopped. Although this was amazing, Ryan's severe pain returned only 2 hours after the procedure and his legs had still not regained sensation. Through the next 2 days his legs regained more strength and slight sensation, but had not fully recovered. The attending doctor told us that the procedure did not entirely fix the problem so Ryan would need the full spinal surgery. However, he felt that it was in Ryan's best interest to pick his own surgeon outside of the hospital. After 3 days and more doctors than we could count, we came up with a plan that would allow Ryan to try to manage his condition at home while waiting for the surgery. We are beyond grateful for the staff at Sutter Roseville, because of their quick response Ryan is home with me and able to walk. However, Ryan is far from okay and he is even more disabled now. His pain is almost uncontrollable, he has much more limited movement and needs lots of help with the basic functions of life.

This now means Ryan will have to undergo another difficult spinal surgery to fuse parts of his lower back in order to save the nerves. Recovery from this surgery will be daunting and Ryan will need full time care from me which means I will not be able to work. Although we have received the full force of our family’s and close friends' support we are still facing many struggles. As we continue, all the expenses of medical care have accumulated a lot of debt. From basic medical care, surgeries, hospital visits, stem cell therapy, intense medication regimen, therapeutic treatments, medical equipment needed at the house, and tons of lost wages for me to be able to care for him over the last year, has impacted us greatly. We never imagined fighting for him just to have a semi-normal life over a year later. We never imagined asking for help. For over a year we have kept our lives mostly private only showing a sliver of what we are going through, but now it has become overwhelming. We are trying to elevate some of our financial stress, purchase the remaining medical equipment we need, and get ready for his next surgery. We are asking that if you are able, to please consider donating to help us continue to do everything in our power to help him live his life again. We also desperately appreciate simple prayers and good thoughts

Ryan’s Injury Story:

For legal purposes some details will be kept private or paraphrased

May 10th 2024, Ryan was on duty working the ambulance at his fire department. They responded to a medical aid where Ryan routinely grabbed the air way bag in one hand, the monitor in the other, and turned to walk into the house. Ryan immediately felt a pop followed by a shooting pain up his neck, through his chest, and down his left arm. He continued to work through the rest of shift even though he was puking from pain, but he kept pushing through. At the end of his shift he called me knowing he needed medical attention. We went to the emergency room where he could be seen for workers comp. The doctor spent 5 minutes with Ryan, made a quick "diagnosis" of a rotator cuff tear, gave some pain pills and sent him home. Over the next 4 weeks Ryan was in the ER 5 times because his pain was absolutely uncontrollable, along with his symptoms getting worse. Ryan was barely able to use his left arm and was unable to move his neck. As he was someone who never even took a Tylenol, to see him in this much pain was terrifying. He was seeing a regular doctor, but workers comp is extremely difficult to get through. Every ER visit was the same, the doctors denying us tests Ryan desperately needed and sending us home saying there was nothing they could do. They tried every pain medication in the book and were still unable to control his pain, but continued to send him home despite our protests. June 4th we were driving to the ER again when Ryan actually passed out from the pain. After initial treatment the doctor informed us that the neck MRI Ryan had a few days prior was not good news. It showed that Ryan had a devastating traumatic neck injury at his C6 vertebrae. The disc between his C6 and C7 disc had gone almost completely through his spinal cord on the left side. Ryan was placed in a soft c-collar and a full arm immobilizer. This injury was extremely severe and Ryan had already been forced to endure it for almost a month now. The doctor said we needed to meet with a spinal surgeon on that Friday which was 4 days away. We wanted Ryan to be admitted to try to control his pain and other symptoms but the doctor told us there was nothing they could do and sent us home. Friday we met with the spinal surgeon who said that Ryan’s injury was very severe and he needed surgery as soon as possible. The surgeon said that if the disc had gone just millimeters to the right Ryan would have been paralyzed on the spot. He was supposed to be placed on a 2 week urgent list. But the surgery was then scheduled a month away, when we explained he needed the surgery urgently they told us there was again nothing they could do.

Between June 7th and June 13th I called the surgeons office 6 times because Ryan had been getting worse and exhibiting neurological symptoms. Late afternoon on June 13th Ryan became sick and threw up. Ryan then told me he couldn’t see and that his vision had become extremely blurry. He also had a massive headache, continuous vomiting, and wasn't acting appropriately. Knowing these signs I rushed him to the emergency room. The first doctor we saw said Ryan was dehydrated or maybe had covid and said we could go home. We immediately requested another doctor. The nurses, understanding the severity of the situation, sent the chief resident. Our new doctor did an exam and found that Ryan’s right pupil was barely reactive and his left eye was completely non-reactive. He said he was very concerned that Ryan had intracranial pressure (ICP or swelling in the brain). He contacted a neurologist who agreed that it was likely from the disc cutting off the flow of the CSF (fluid in the brain) and requested an emergency brain MRI. Ryan was then admitted to the hospital. Almost 15 hours of waiting, no brain MRI, him still not being able to see, profusely vomiting, and other symptoms. They wouldn't allow me to stay with him and forced me to leave that night. I then received a call that Ryan was being taken for an emergency spinal surgery. I barely made it in time but was able to kiss him goodbye as he was wheeled away. After the surgery the surgeon told us the injury was even worse than he thought because the disc had ruptured sending liquid cartilage into the spinal canal. When Ryan woke he was able to see again but little did we know that was just the beginning. We would soon learn that because of this hospital's poor choices Ryan would possibly be suffering for the rest of his life.

Over the next few months Ryan's pain got worse and worse, neurological symptoms persisted, visual deficits, severe headaches, and left sided deficits did not elevate. After dozens of MRI’s, CT’s, X-rays, nerve conduction studies and so many other tests it was clear Ryan was not getting better. They found that the injury itself and how long the disc was stuck in his spinal cord had caused spinal cord damage and extreme nerve damage to the left side. Over a year later Ryan is still being evaluated and trying to be treated. He still suffers from extreme pain, spinal cord damage that causes too many problems to list, nerve damage, left sided deficits to the arm and leg, possible brain damage, visual deficits in his left eye, memory loss, motion sickness, loss of balance, and so much more. His doctors are still attempting to get him sent to UCSF for neurological evaluation for the brain and spinal cord.

Stem Cell Therapy:

In June of 2025 we made the difficult decision to take Ryan out of the United States to Mexico to receive stem cells. Ryan received 70 million embryonic stem cells through and IV, along with 50 billon exosomes. They then inserted a catheter into his spinal canal where they injected 30 million stem cells directly into his CSF (fluid around brain and spinal cord). Although it seems like a small procedure, the recovery was absolutely brutal. Ryan was unable to sit, stand, walk, or even talk for the first 24 hours. He was rolling around groaning in pain and projectile vomiting for hours. After 4 days we were able to get him into a wheelchair and fly him home to recover. Although it's still too early to tell if it will have any effect, Ryan will still need another stem cell surgery next year that will cost another $12,000 plus of our own money.