Auto Accident Medical Bills

On February 28, 2017 my car was struck by another vehicle at a high rate of speed causing me to be permanently injured in a near fatal accident in Texas.

The impact of the other vehicle hitting my car was so hard that the impact caused my head to be thrown through the drivers side window causing my forehead and scalp to be cut open with light internal bleeding in my skull causing me to be rendered unconscious upon impact.

I was taken by ambulance to Medical City Brain and Spine Trauma Center in Plano; upon arrival to the Emergency Room the Emergency team worked to stabilize my vitals.

At this time the Emergency team acted upon the most visible  injury;  my abdominal organs having shifted to my chest cavity along with a bleeding spleen. This injury was caused by the impact of the other vehicle striking my car hitting  and causing this injury to me as I am only 5' 1" at 95 lbs.

The most immediate solution was to take me into surgery as soon as possible to restore my internal organs to their normal place and to repair my spleen. This surgery lasted 5 hours at which time my forehead and scalped were stitched and stapled to stop the bleeding. I am left with permanent scarring of my forehead and permanent scarring from the surgical incision from my waist to my rib cage.

After this surgery I was taken to the Trauma Intensive Care Unit until my next surgery.

The following morning I was taken in for x-rays of my right arm, right ankle, skull, spine and chest cavity.

The x-rays of my ankle showed a crushed right ankle known as a Pilon fracture in three places, my ankle has been crushed due to the severe impact of the vehicle that hit me.

Wikipedia states the following:

"A Pilon fracture, also called a Plafond fracture, is a fracture of the distal part of the tibia, involving its articular surface at the ankle joint. Pilon fractures are caused by rotational or axial forces, mostly as a result of falls from a height or motor vehicle accidents. Pilon fractures are rare, comprising 3 to 10 percent of all fractures of the tibia and 1 percent of all lower extremity fractures, but they involve a large part of the weight bearing surface of the Tibia in the ankle joint. Because of this, they may be difficult to fixate and are historically associated with high rates of complications and poor outcome."

My first surgery for my ankle involved an External Fixation as well as temporary hardware being inserted into the Tibia. Once this surgery was complete my next ankle surgery was scheduled in two weeks as the swelling needed to be reduced and to do so I had to keep my ankle elevated at all times while only being able to sleep on my back.

Wikipedia continues to state:

"The treatment of Pilon fractures depends on the extent of the injury. This includes the involvement of other bones such as the fibula and the talus, involvement of soft tissue, and the fracture pattern. Treatment strategies and fixation methods used include internal and external fixation, as well as staged approaches, with the aim of reducing the fracture,reconstructing the involved bones and restoration of articular surface congruence, with minimal insult to soft tissues. Appropriate wound management is important to reduce the high rate of infectious complications and secondary wound healing problems associated with open Pilon fractures. Vacuum assisted closure wound therapy and using a staged protocol (awaiting soft-tissue recovery before extensive reconstructive efforts) may play a positive role."

The chest x-rays showed four fractured ribs on my right side.

The spinal x-rays showed a severely fractured L5 Vertebrae.  An L5 Type A (compression and burst) fracture are uncommon. L4 and L5 fractures are commonly the result of a high impact trauma from falls or motor vehicle accidents.

Surgery was schedule to repair and insert hardware attached to the L4 Verterbrae and the S1 to hold the L5 Vertebrae in place as well as two screws into the L5. This surgery lasted 4 1/2 hours and has left me with limited mobility, a permanent injury that will certainly heal yet leaving me with life long restrictions to my physical abilities and mobility.

The x-rays of my right arm a fractured humerus. Treatment for the fractured humerus would involve a 3 1/2 hours of surgery to insert screws and a rod to hold the humerus in place. An 8 inch incision was was cut into the back of my arm to reach the bone area that needed repair. During this surgery the Surgeon noticed that my radial nerve had been severed from the fractured bone.

To repair this severed nerve I would have to undergo another surgery through the same incision for 4 hours to repair this nerve. The severed radial nerve has caused me to lose my range of motion in my wrist and has caused me to lose mobility in my fingers. I have extensive pain from the fractured humerus, severe weakness in my right arm as I struggle to use my right hand. The hardware placed in my arm is permanent and the nerve damage has left me with extensive loss of mobility in my right hand.

My fifth and final surgery involved the complete repair of my ankle. This would involve repairing the 3 fractures by inserting hardware to hold the fractures in place causing. This type of fracture left me bed ridden for the 30 days I was in the hospital only able to spend limited time in a wheel chair. This injury to my ankle will leave me permanently injured, never able to have the abilities that I did before being struck by another driver. This is a 12 to 18 month recovery for this injury, I am in the 3rd month and presently unable to walk. I would remain in the wheel chair for almost 4 weeks at which time I graduated to a knee scooter.

I was told that I am lucky to be alive and that I was inches from being paralyzed. But I made it, however, my injuries are and were extensive as well as serious leaving me with physical restrictions for thr rest of my life.

I have very limited range of motion in my back and ankle and I am unable to walk currently so I am on a scooter and have been for 2 months. I cannot drive due to my ankle. I am scheduled to attempt walking on June 22, but it will be limited and will take time to get up to any sort of distance.

Due to my injuries I am unable to work right now and my medical bills are over a million dollars and that does not include going to ongoing rehab for my body and hand and follow-up doctor appointments that often include x-rays. I did not have medical insurance as I had just started a new job so I am having to pay all bills out of pocket.

Due to my injuries I am unable to work right now and my medical bills are over a million dollars and that does not include going to rehab for my body and hand and follow-up doctor appointments that often include x-rays.

I did not have medical insurance as I had just started a new job so I am having to pay all bills out of pocket.

I did leave the hospital on March 28 and went home where I needed 24/7 care.

I was in a wheelchair for over 3 weeks. I will keep this site updated as my progress changes.

Thank you to everyone for any financial help you can extend.

Any contribution is greatly appreciated.

To all that read this, my name is Ken Gregory, I created this GoFundMe for Mary and though this appears that Mary created this account, she did not, as I do not have a Facebook Profile, I created this under Mary's Facebook account to help Mary pay her extensive medical bills for an accident that she was a victim in.

For those of you that wish to contact me, please do so through this account with your contact information and I will respond to you.