Joey Burns' Journey

We are seeking help with funding to move our son, Joey, from Washington, Pennsylvania to Palm Bay, Florida. Joey is confined to a bed and cannot speak due to a severe brain injury. He is fed through a tube to his stomach, has a trach in his neck to breath, and has a tube from his bladder to a bag.

He requires transportation equipped to handle someone in his condition. We have looked into the limited options for transporting him such a distance. By air, it would take roughly five hours, bed to bed. He is in a nursing home and would be going directly to a nursing home in Florida. By ground, the trip would take approximately nineteen hours. Our hope is for air transportation since ground travel would put a lot of stress on Joey. Our goal is for $18k for air transportation or $9k to move him by ground.

I will try to explain how this journey began and why we are moving Joey to Florida. When Joey was sixteen he was playing flag football in a park with his church group team (October 8th, 2006). When practice had finished, he decided to play with a group of guys playing tackle football.
During the game, Joey went out for a pass and when he jumped to catch the ball, he was hit low, causing him to flip and hit his head on the ground extremely hard. He got up and continued to play for another twenty minutes but had to quit due to a severe headache. He left with a friend that had agreed to give him a ride home. Within minutes of leaving the park, Joey exclaimed to his friend, “I can't see!”, and began convulsing. His friend immediately pulled the car over and called 911. From there, Joey was airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Florida. The blow to Joey's head had ruptured three blood vessels in his brain leading to severe swelling. The pressure in his skull led to massive damage to his brain. After his surgery, Joey remained in a coma for a very long time. We were finally able to take him home with twenty-four-hour nurse care, which was a blessing.

We hoped we could continue to care for Joey at home, but Medicaid cut the hours for home care. This was our reason for leaving Florida. We were told we would be able to keep him at home in Pennsylvania. I had a triple bypass and needed a career change, so we moved. It was not long until we discovered the information we were given was not true. Though the only way to really know was to apply in Pennsylvania. Joey has been in a nursing home since he came to Pennsylvania. The staff at his facility tries, but they are always short staffed. Sometimes an Aid has twenty-nine patients to take care of during their shift.

After thirteen years Joey still cannot speak and is bedridden. He can move his head and his left arm, but that's about it. He has a great smile and he acknowledges us with his eyes, which helps keep us going.
We moved Joey from Florida to Pennsylvania seven years ago in the hope of being able to care for Joey at home, but that never happened. Since our time in Pennsylvania, I have had another heart attack, which has caused a defect in my heart. This will cause the wall of my heart to continue to get thinner until it eventually gives up. I was working construction but that is no longer possible. Tania, Joey's mother, has worked as a CNA at Joey's facility for over five years but recently was diagnosed with a hairline fracture in her knee.

We have a place in Florida with friends and family that are willing to help, we just need to get Joey there. I know God has a plan for all this even though we can't comprehend it. All we can do is be faithful and trust in him. Thank you for your consideration.