Help Wyatt Heal: Medical and Rehab Expenses

I am Jen, a friend of the family of Wyatt MacPherson. On Friday, June 6th, Wyatt was out for a bike ride when he was hit by a delivery van.

So now that we’ve got a little more information and Wyatt is safe, I wanted to share an update and explanation with folks who’ve only heard bits and pieces. CONTENT WARNING: graphic descriptions of traumatic injury.

On Friday evening around 4:30 pm, Wyatt was struck by a delivery van while he was crossing westbound via a crosswalk on his bicycle. The van had been at a stop facing north at the light and then accelerated from the stop line either to turn right or go straight, unclear currently. Wyatt was hit with force and tipped forward (from the van’s perspective) onto his right-hand side. The van is reported to have come to a quick stop partially on top of Wyatt and then the driver reversed, probably in an effort to ensure Wyatt was not trapped under the vehicle.

Wyatt was immediately aided by eyewitnesses who called 911, and numerous first responders arrived on the scene incredibly quickly.

Wyatt was still under his bicycle, lying on his right side with the bicycle between his legs and his left side absolutely mangled, still caught up in the pedal structure of the bike.

His femur was very obviously broken, leaving his knee at a right angle compared to what it should have been. His left calf was a gaping, shredded mess of tissue, with a baseball-sized hole and several slightly smaller but still sizable gashes, and the tibia (also broken) coming out.

Wyatt was transported to St. Agnes by ambulance, immediately transferred to a helicopter, and flown to a trauma center in Milwaukee. Every single person involved with his on-scene medical care and transport was so kind and gentle, and Wyatt keeps talking about how caring they were.

We spent a few hours in the Emergency Department doing imaging and other prep steps along with attending to some nerve-wracking respiratory issues brought on by the necessary use of pain meds. Then at approx. 10:30 pm, he was taken back to surgery, which lasted until about 4:30 am.

Around 5:30 am, we were able to see him after speaking with the surgeon, allowing Wyatt time to begin waking from anesthesia.

- Primary concern is infection, but the surgeon said she feels good about the outcome and measures they took.

- Tibial break close to or involved in growth plate. Follow-up needed here, monitoring, potential future surgery.

- Tibia fixed in place with plate.

- Femur fixed with central rod.

- His calf was very mangled, so he now has a very, very long scar.

- Surgeon said part of the tibia was actually bent from the impact as well.

Has to stay at least a few days in the hospital.

Wheelchair, crutches, walker for a while (estimate is 6-8 weeks), tons of rehab and physical therapy.

Wyatt is pretty upset and frustrated, describes feeling traumatized, and is in a lot of pain (managing well thanks to a fabulous care team!!!!). But, being Wyatt, he’s also silly, sarcastic, sweet, and grateful. He’s already working through some basic physical and occupational therapy tasks, and we’re incredibly proud of him and SO ETERNALLY GRATEFUL that he’s safe.

Wyatt is an hour from his and his mother's home. His father lives even further away.

We are fundraising to support Wyatt's medical expenses, rehabilitation, and the family's travel costs during this challenging time.