Please Help Austin During His Recovery

On August 21st, 2022, my brother Austin, who is a Washington County Sheriff Deputy, was in an accident while on duty. He was helping with a search party down in a tall grassy area of Washington County in a UTV. While on the UTV, Austin, the Sergeant and the driver fell into a valley or ravine about 8 feet deep. Austin was unconscious for around 4-5 minutes, we believe. He was taken to Nebraska Medical Center, where he was treated for a brain bleed and broken back. Luckily, the brain bleed was not large enough to require surgery. However, he is still experiencing a lot of confusion, fatigue, dizziness, and he is processing information slower than doctors would like to see at this point. Not only is he having trouble with this, but he is also in a back brace dealing with the pain of a broken back and head pain, which I can imagine feels worse than any migraine anyone has had.

Austin is the sole provider for his family after his wife learned of a neurological disease, which required her to leave her job. He and his wife have two boys who are active in sports and school activities. Austin worked extra shifts to ensure everyone had what they needed for each activity. In addition, there is a possibility that his oldest son will have to have surgery on his hand before he can continue in sports, which adds more bills and more stress to Austin's plate, leaving him feeling defeated and overwhelmed.

We are unsure when Austin will be able to return to work. As a deputy, he needs to be a quick thinker and use his cognitive skills; at this point, there's been little improvement.

Austin will also need to continue to see doctors for CT scans and/or MRIs if needed, along with PT/OT. The PT/OT will include post-concussive therapy.

I want to raise money to help his family make sure the bills get paid, so that would be one less thing they have to worry about while going through this recovery process. This situation has taken a toll on his wife and his boys as they started their second week of school.

Please do whatever you can, whether donating or sharing this to help back our blue and let him know that WGY6!! He puts his life on the line every time he walks out that door to go to work and is one of the most selfless men I've ever known. Let's give back to him so he can focus on recovering to get back to what he loves: helping others and keeping his community safe!

WE GOT YOUR SIX, AUSTIN!