Hello to everyone reading this.  Let me first tell you about Nick. He has an amazing wife and a BRAND NEW son who is 4 months old!  His family is the center focus of his life. He  worked for Flagstaff Hotshots, a wildland firefighting crew, for 5 years where he learned the ins and outs of fighting forest fires.  From there, he started running heavy equipment for a road crew with the United States Forest Service.  While working with the road crew, he obtained his Dozer Initial Attack Fire qualification, and used this to get a job in Alabama working on the Talladega National Forest as an Initial Attack Fire Dozer Operator.  This makes Nick one of the first to be called and respond to wildfires here on the Talladega National Forest.  He  has also used his  talents in wildland firefighting to support fire suppression efforts across the country in places like Montana, Washington,  Arizona, and California, to name a few, to help protect the nation's forests and communities from catastrophic wildfires.

Nick recently had an accident while in Mexico for his sister-in-laws wedding.  He shattered his C7 vertebrae after jumping into the ocean.  He immediately lost feeling in his legs and was rushed to the hospital.  After having MRI/CT/X-ray the doctors said he needed emergency surgery to repair the bone before it affected his spinal cord, which could paralyze him.  Nick was in surgery for 7 hours, and spent the next 8 days in the a hospital in Mazaltan, Mexico.  On top of that, he and his family had to stay an extra 2 weeks in a hotel before he had recovered enough for the doctors to allow him to fly back to the United States. 

Nick is back in the U.S. now, and starting the long road to recovery.  Thankfully, he has full use of his legs, but still experiences nerve pain and numbness in his legs and core.  

Nick has received unbelievable support from his family and friends!  Unfortunately, Nick does not have any paid time off left since he used the majority of it when his son was born 4 months ago.  Medical bills from his son's birth, plus 2-3 months off work without pay, in addition to the medical bills he will have from his accident won't stop piling up anytime soon.  

It is our hope, that we as a community can help the Wigle family by providing some financial support for this family that has helped some many others by their sacrifices.  Anything will be appreciated and help the Wigle family as we hope to bring their focus on family and recovery, instead of worrying about medical bills and several months of salary lost.