Hi my name is Dana Potoniec and I want to share the story of my godson, Jack Walsh. In the early hours of November 13, Jack had an accident. He fell 20 feet from a fire escape while visiting friends out of town. He was rushed by ambulance to University of Iowa Hospital. He sustained a severe traumatic brain injury, spinal burst fractures at T9 and broken ribs. Immediate attention was given to his head injury where he had surgical intervention to stop the bleeding and decrease the swelling in his brain which was life threatening. Treatment of the spinal injury has to wait until Jack is stable enough. All we can do is continue to pray and wait! We would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and prayers for Jack because it is working. On November 16, Jack had his first response to a Neuro check which is done every 2 hours, he squeezed the nurse’s hand. The next day, Jack gave his mom the peace sign. This was confirmation that our sweet Jack was still here and fighting for his life! That gesture of a peace sign has given us hope. The day after that he opened one of his eyes. And on November 19, the doctors removed the eeg monitors and the intracranial pressure monitoring device. Jack continues to be intubated on a ventilator. Jack will need extensive rehabilitation for both his traumatic brain injury and his burst spinal fractures. Jack will need to undergo future surgeries to put the piece of his skull back and to address the injuries to his spine and spinal cord. Jack needs his family by his side to support him on his road to recovery. The family, Jack’s father Michael Walsh, mother Jodi Panici (Bunegar), and stepfather Jason Panici, have been blessed by the Quarters in Iowa City which is providing them housing during this time at a reduced rate. However, being out of town to support Jack and not having jobs which they can work remotely at is creating a financial burden in addition to the medical bills which are quickly adding up. Once Jack is stable enough, his family wants to transfer Jack back to Illinois. The road to recovery for Jack is going to be a long one. He will need to relearn many skills that we take for granted. The degree of injury to his spine has not been definitive but the doctors suspect he will be paralyzed from the waist down. We are remaining positive and hopeful that Jack will walk again as Jack is a fighter! Please continue to pray for Jack to make a full recovery!

 

I asked Jack’s only sibling, Maddie, to tell you a little about this remarkable young man. Here is what Maddie had to say. “It is hard to sum up a person in few words. I've always described my brother by the character he showed growing up. For example, even when we were little, he would make room for people who had disabilities on the playground. He is uniquely patient, gentle, and kind from day one. Jack is still strangely good at dealing with babies and difficult people in general. He is a really important person in our family; he's our glue.

 

He has been pursuing his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science at Moraine Valley. He was focused on getting healthy and organized before starting his next semester at school. Jack is really funny-- we can't wait to get him home so he can crack jokes with his family again”.

 

Any and all donations will go directly toward medical costs for Jack with a portion being donated to The Rossi House.