Justine's Recovery

[Content Warning: broken bones; climbing accident; surgeries]

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Justine recently fell from a height of about 40 feet in a climbing gym accident. (She recognizes this is a learning opportunity, and you can find details about the accident on her CaringBridge site.) She has multiple injuries, and we’re grateful that none of the damage is permanent. In the fall, she broke her right femur, shattered her right patella, broke her left ankle and sustained a complex tibia fracture, dislocated and fractured her left elbow, and broke four ribs, which punctured her left lung. Her hip was also broken, which was found a few days after the surgery on her femur. Her lung has healed quickly, but the bones and ligaments will need to take their sweet time.

Justine was very fortunate to have a quick response from EMS and many wonderful providers at the hospital. Three surgeries were needed to put things back together, and a fourth surgery was needed to repair damage to her hip two weeks after the accident. She had a rod placed in her femur, her patella was salvaged and reattached to her quadriceps, and her tibia was reconstructed back where it belongs, above her ankle (with the help of a plate and some screws). Her femoral neck was later stabilized with two screws.

At this point, more or less full recovery is expected, and will hopefully take place within a year or so. In the meantime, the coming weeks and months will be a marathon. She has been moved to a specialty hospital with physical and occupational therapy and will be discharged in early March. At this point, she will be in a wheelchair until more bones heal, and will need a short-term place to live that is more accessible than her current apartment.

Justine is known for being active, tough, independent, and taking massive challenges in stride. She’s also known for being extremely caring and giving, and she’s often one of the first to show up when someone else is in need. Despite Justine’s at-times-superhuman ability to weather injuries and challenging situations, we know this accident isn’t something that’s possible to recover from without a lot of care and support.

She has a long winding road of recovery ahead, and her friends and family want to do whatever we can to make sure she can keep her focus on healing, rather than on the financial stresses of medical care and reduced income. We also want to support the caregivers who are taking time away from work and flying to Alaska to support her while she regains her ability to take care of basic needs.

We expect there will be many out-of-pocket expenses coming her way, along with all the supplies and help needed to restructure everyday life, tend to multiple complicated injuries, and navigate with limited mobility in the coming months.

We don’t know exactly what level of financial support will be needed yet, but we hope to help make sure Justine and her caregivers can access what they need without having to worry about long-term financial consequences.

Please consider donating to support Justine’s recovery!