on September 18th, Mike had a freak accident where he fell just the right (or should I say wrong) way and shattered multiple vertebrae in his neck. Fortunately, his wife Jen was home and she found him and called an ambulance right away. This undoubtedly saved his life as he probably wouldn’t have been able to breathe on his own without medical intervention for very long.

Mike underwent emergency surgery at Sinai-Grace and his doctors were hopeful that once the swelling went down, he would return quickly to full functionality. Unfortunately, this did not happen. Mike is suffering from nerve damage affecting all four of his limbs. His injury diagnosis now is C4 Asia D (incomplete) quadriplegia. This means he has feeling and movement in all of his limbs but not full function/control of them.

For folks with this diagnosis, it is impossible to predict the future, but Mike is working his ass off in physical therapy. When I visited, I was able to see Mike in PT and he was able to walk with just his therapist helping keep him steady on his feet. He still has a long road to go, but he has come really far in these last two months — so we’re hopeful. Being the fighter that he is, he takes extra PT shifts and rarely takes breaks. He is also in good spirits, he was joking and laughing when I visited, like he always is.

Right now Mike is staying at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, but is scheduled to move back home Wednesday, December 18th and will continue therapy in an out patient capacity. He sends his love and appreciation to everyone and wants y’all to know how much he misses you. We are organizing this GoFundMe to help offset the medical bills and the costs of Cobra which is very expensive. Mike’s wife has also been disabled with MS for some time now, which is going to make an already tough road even harder for them and we’re hoping to alleviate some of the financial stress. Again, they appreciate everyone’s love and support.

Thank you.