James Miller Relief Fund
Donation protected
On Oct 24th, 2016 at 8:20 pm I got a call from my sister with news no daughter ever wants to hear... "dad was in a motorcyle accident." My heart sank. "What happened?!" "How bad is it?" "Is he awake?" "Is he ok?" "Who's fault was it?" "What are his injuries?" "Where is mom?" Well, here is dad's story...
That Monday evening he was on his way to get a haircut when a Jeep pulled out of a gas station right in front of him. He had virtually no time to react and hit it. He laid the bike down right before impact to keep from slamming head first into the side of the Jeep. The driver had no idea what hit her. In fact, she told bystanders that she never once saw that motorcyle!
The next few days were very long for dad and the rest of us as we waited to hear the extent of his injuries. We knew his left leg was in bad shape, and his right arm had a few fractures.
Tuesday morning he was taken into surgery and it was then that they placed an external fixator in his leg. We found out that his left femur was shattered and he was missing approx. 5 inches of the bone! The doctors told us they weren't sure exactly how they were going to go about fixing it, but that this injury was going to have a very long road to recovery.
That Friday he was transferred to an impatient rehab unit to work on strengthening the good leg and the good arm. He did well with therapy, but it was very hard work!
Fast forward to Thursday the following week (Nov. 3). At his doctor's appointment with the trauma surgeon, we received encouraging AND discouraging news. He told us that many of his colleagues said they would have amputated the leg due to the severity of the injury. Thankfully, this particular surgeon went the "fixing it" route. They gave us a plan for the months ahead... The next surgery will be Mon, Nov 7. This surgery will be the first surgery that they actually begin fixing the leg, which will be through a process called "Induced membrane bone graph. Masquelet technique". The amount of surgeries following this one will be based on how well it works, his body's response, and all that.
He has a VERY long road ahead, and will not be able to put any weight on that leg for an extremely long time! He will need a wheelchair for quite a while as this is only the very beginning of this process.
The funds we need currently are for mom and dad's house, as it is not wheelchair accessible. We are working very hard (and as fast as we can) to get the house to a point where dad can come home after he is well enough after the next surgery. There are a few rooms that are being redone to make so he can use them, including a bedroom that his hospital bed will be in and a temporary bathroom.
If you can, we would greatly appreciate any amount given. Every little bit helps!
I will be posting updates periodically. Also, feel free to message me with any questions!
Thank you all SO much!!
~Carrie
That Monday evening he was on his way to get a haircut when a Jeep pulled out of a gas station right in front of him. He had virtually no time to react and hit it. He laid the bike down right before impact to keep from slamming head first into the side of the Jeep. The driver had no idea what hit her. In fact, she told bystanders that she never once saw that motorcyle!
The next few days were very long for dad and the rest of us as we waited to hear the extent of his injuries. We knew his left leg was in bad shape, and his right arm had a few fractures.
Tuesday morning he was taken into surgery and it was then that they placed an external fixator in his leg. We found out that his left femur was shattered and he was missing approx. 5 inches of the bone! The doctors told us they weren't sure exactly how they were going to go about fixing it, but that this injury was going to have a very long road to recovery.
That Friday he was transferred to an impatient rehab unit to work on strengthening the good leg and the good arm. He did well with therapy, but it was very hard work!
Fast forward to Thursday the following week (Nov. 3). At his doctor's appointment with the trauma surgeon, we received encouraging AND discouraging news. He told us that many of his colleagues said they would have amputated the leg due to the severity of the injury. Thankfully, this particular surgeon went the "fixing it" route. They gave us a plan for the months ahead... The next surgery will be Mon, Nov 7. This surgery will be the first surgery that they actually begin fixing the leg, which will be through a process called "Induced membrane bone graph. Masquelet technique". The amount of surgeries following this one will be based on how well it works, his body's response, and all that.
He has a VERY long road ahead, and will not be able to put any weight on that leg for an extremely long time! He will need a wheelchair for quite a while as this is only the very beginning of this process.
The funds we need currently are for mom and dad's house, as it is not wheelchair accessible. We are working very hard (and as fast as we can) to get the house to a point where dad can come home after he is well enough after the next surgery. There are a few rooms that are being redone to make so he can use them, including a bedroom that his hospital bed will be in and a temporary bathroom.
If you can, we would greatly appreciate any amount given. Every little bit helps!
I will be posting updates periodically. Also, feel free to message me with any questions!
Thank you all SO much!!
~Carrie
Organizer and beneficiary
Carrie Miller
Organizer
Hutchinson, KS
Stephanie Wickey
Beneficiary