Donation protected
Many of you may have heard of the recent vehicle accident that Mike Walsh was in which he thankfully survived but was left with a long and painful road of recovery. For those who don’t know the details on Monday, November 24th in the crazy wind storm we had Mike was driving home from work and the crazy wind literally picked up the back of Mike's truck and turned him into oncoming traffic, hitting another truck head-on. The other driver walked away but Mike was not so lucky. His airbag knocked him out cold and when he came to, he was pinned under his dashboard in the passenger seat. After 1/2 hour, the jaws of life were used to extract him from the now written off truck. He was taken by ambulance to Brampton Civic hospital and had surgery to repair a shattered right femur and left ankle. He also had a fractured left arm. A CT showed he also had some trauma to his abdomen and he had a blood transfusion. (BTW - please donate blood this holiday season!) Mike is still in a lot of pain and has a long road ahead of him to get his legs working and walking again. Doctors have medically stabilized him and he was recently transferred to St. John’s Trauma Rehab Centre in north Toronto (on Cummner Ave) where he will stay until he is back up on his feet. No one can give a timeline of this, most are saying 4-6 weeks.
The Walsh family recently recovered from the effects of a previous worksite accident that Mike endured two years ago that kept him out of work for a year. This most recent accident finds the Walsh family of seven again facing many challenges. Mike’s recovery will be at least another 4-6 weeks in a rehab hospital and a lengthy convalesce at home. There is a long road of unexpected financial hardship with Mike unable to work, limited benefits, hospital parking costs, legal fees, rehab fees, and car replacement costs not to mention the logistical challenges of Cristin working nights and 5 kids to support. It has always been our family tradition to support others during the holiday season and this year our donation of time and money will be to the Walsh family. I hope you will join us in doing the same. I’ve set up a Gofundme webpage to accept donations to help out with regular expenses of life, such as groceries, and also to help with Christmas gifts and some of the other expenses noted above.
Cristin has also asked if you are going to do something festive (skating, tobogganing, baking, etc) and you have an extra seat in your vehicle, please consider letting one of the Walsh kids tag along. The Walsh family is also looking for drivers to take the kids in shifts to visit their dad at St. John’s rehab centre in north Toronto (on Cummner Ave) about an hour from home. If you are available to do this any time over the next 4-6 weeks please reach out and offer that will be a great help.
As a community it’s so heartwarming to know that we can count on each other and come together to help out the Walsh family in their time of need. We truly have a lot to be grateful for this holiday season and hope that you can help support a family that has had a very difficult time over the last few years.
The Walsh family recently recovered from the effects of a previous worksite accident that Mike endured two years ago that kept him out of work for a year. This most recent accident finds the Walsh family of seven again facing many challenges. Mike’s recovery will be at least another 4-6 weeks in a rehab hospital and a lengthy convalesce at home. There is a long road of unexpected financial hardship with Mike unable to work, limited benefits, hospital parking costs, legal fees, rehab fees, and car replacement costs not to mention the logistical challenges of Cristin working nights and 5 kids to support. It has always been our family tradition to support others during the holiday season and this year our donation of time and money will be to the Walsh family. I hope you will join us in doing the same. I’ve set up a Gofundme webpage to accept donations to help out with regular expenses of life, such as groceries, and also to help with Christmas gifts and some of the other expenses noted above.
Cristin has also asked if you are going to do something festive (skating, tobogganing, baking, etc) and you have an extra seat in your vehicle, please consider letting one of the Walsh kids tag along. The Walsh family is also looking for drivers to take the kids in shifts to visit their dad at St. John’s rehab centre in north Toronto (on Cummner Ave) about an hour from home. If you are available to do this any time over the next 4-6 weeks please reach out and offer that will be a great help.
As a community it’s so heartwarming to know that we can count on each other and come together to help out the Walsh family in their time of need. We truly have a lot to be grateful for this holiday season and hope that you can help support a family that has had a very difficult time over the last few years.
Organizer
Susan Jeremiah Ashmore
Organizer
Oakville, ON