Matthew Roy's Story and Recovery

Thank you for visiting our GoFundMe page for Matthew Roy.

On Sunday, July 7th, Matthew’s life changed forever. He is only 35 years old. He had a fall that resulted in him breaking his neck (cervical spine injury), leaving him permanently paralyzed from the neck down. “Quadriplegic” is not a word that any family ever wants to hear after a fall or an accident.

There are many changes and challenges ahead, not just for Matthew but for his family also. There will be a long, painful adjustment period. Matthew will not only have to face the physical changes to his body, but even harder, the psychological effects that come with a life-changing injury like this. He is going to need all the support we can give him. Part of that is ensuring that we’re able to ease his mind about things like, retrieving his belongings from his rental residence, putting his things into storage and ensuring he has psychological support throughout this transition.

Incomplete vs Complete: people with incomplete quadriplegia can sometimes move or use their arms and hands. Whether or not they can do so depends on the level and severity of the injury. The higher up the spine an injury happens, the less likely that hand or arm use is possible. Complete quadriplegia means a person loses muscle control, the ability to feel sensations and their brain can't manage any automatic processes that rely on brain signaling to work. In Matthew’s case, the injury is quite high up on his spine. Therefore, it is unlikely that he will be able to use his arms and hands, but not impossible. Right now, it is a day-by-day situation. We are hopeful that he will be able to control some movements in his arms and hands eventually, but only time will tell.

Matthew will be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for at least a week. While he’s in the ICU, he is not allowed any visitors other than his mom and sister. After that, he will be transferred to the spinal injury unit of the hospital, at which point, he should be able to have visitors. He will likely be in hospital for many, many weeks. We will keep everyone posted regarding when he can have visitors and where to go. Please be patient and respectful to the family in these early days while they work through processing what has happened to their loved one and all the pending changes to come.

As far as updates go, we will plan to provide regular updates via this GoFundMe Page.

The initial goal was for the doctors to get Matthew’s spine stabilized so he can focus on healing. On Monday, July 8th, after having a Halo Procedure, the doctor’s discovered quite quickly that the halo would not work, as they couldn’t get the weight right due to the damage being so significant. Later that day, Matthew underwent a gruesome 8+ hour surgery to stabilize his spine.

As of Tuesday, July 9th, Matthew is out of surgery and things went well, but as expected. There were no changes with respect to his movement or mobility, but there was some arm movement. He is intubated and heavily sedated at the moment. The doctor's hope to extubate him tomorrow, but they're giving his body some time to rest and recover, so we'll see. He perked up a little when he heard his mom and sister's voices today. That was comforting.

The proceeds donated here will go toward things like, parking/gas/uber for Matthew’s mom and sister to visit him in the ICU and thereafter. Moving his belongings out of his rental home. Storing his belongings in storage until such a time that he’s able to come home. A wheelchair and personalized care for Matthew once he is strong enough to leave the hospital. This is going to be a long process and the family is SO GRATEFUL for any and all contributions to help lighten the financial burden bestowed upon them.

Please keep Matthew in your thoughts and prayers as we move through the hard days to come.

Love, the Roy Family

If you'd like to donate directly, Matthew's family has set up an email where you can do so. Please contact me directly via GoFundMe for the email address.

THANK YOU

XOXO