Let's Help Jaime Valdez Walk Again

On the morning of January 25th, 22-year-old Jaime Valdez was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident in Lubbock, TX . His car flipped and paramedics said he's lucky to be alive. 

He was rushed to the University Medical Center of Lubbock, where he is currently in the ICU. Due to his injuries, Jaime suffered a C5/C6 spinal cord injury resulting in mid-chest down paralysis, limited use of his hands and is on a ventilator.

On Jan. 27th, he had neck surgery to stabilize his spine with rods and plates (in medical terms, a retropulsion-corpectomy with anterior stabilization and posterior fusion). This was him right after surgery: 

When he woke up, his spirits were high. He was able to be removed from ICU and began working with physical/occupational therapists to aid in recovering his range of motion in his hands. 

However, over the course of the next couple of days, his body stopped responding to treatment. This is when he was placed back into the ICU with a ventilator/breathing tube to help his breathing. He's also receiving treatment to improve his bowel/renal function, but is currently sedated:


Once the doctors can get him stable, the next journey of his life begins. His family and medical team are currently looking at options to place him in a long-term rehab facility that specializes in his exact spinal cord injury.

When he's coherent, he will reiterate to everyone that he WILL walk again. And that's where you can help. Jaime has limited student insurance through Texas Tech and we can only imagine what his medical bills will total (we've heard in the millions). We don't want him to get turned away from a state-of-the-art rehab facility due to lack of funds, so we're asking for help. 

Jaime loves people (if you know him, you know he's a clown) and has a passion for helping others in his community. He was actually at Tech to become a nurse and he said this dream isn't going away. 

We'll post updates about his journey. We believe in Jaime and his strength and can't wait to see his smiling face again, up and walking, as reaches and surpasses his goals. This was taken three weeks before the accident watching his beloved Cowboys: 

Thank you for any help you can give. Jaime's entire family and friends are very grateful. We can't wait to show him the outpouring of love from people he knows (and strangers alike!) once he's out of sedation.

You got this Jaime. We believe in you.


**Full transparency for GoFundMe rules and regulations: 
My name is Allison Tibbits, I live in Dallas, TX and my sister is Madison Thompson, Jaime's girlfriend of six years.

The funds will be directly deposited to a savings account I opened in my name that will then be transferred in full to Jaime and his account. He will have complete control of the funds donated through this campaign. I merely opened the account because he is currently sedated and didn't want there to be a hold on the campaign. The funds will be used to help pay his mounting medical bills.

Team Jaime is made up of the following amazing humans:
- Madison Thompson, Jaime's girlfriend
- Sara Elizabeth, Jaime's step-mom
- Jaime Valdez, Jaime's dad
- Cecilia Perez, Jaime's sister