At the age of 43 Steve has already been dealing with a spinal cord injury that has completely altered his life. A fall left him in severe pain and unable to continue working as a bus driver. Due to long wait times in Ontario, he was forced to incur the additional costs of travelling to the US to access an MRI. He once again found himself in the ER, but this time he had his MRI results. He was then rushed into emergency surgery. Due to the long wait time for surgery, multiple surgeries were now required that still resulted in a significant physical disability. After months of outpatient care, Steve still relies on a wheelchair to get around. The pain is excruciating and the only treatment that helps is not covered by OHIP and is very expensive. In an effort for Steve and his partner to stay in their home, they will need to make crucial renovations to ensure the house is accessible for Steve to have a semblance of a normal life.

Steve has always been the helpful neighbour and friend but now he needs our help to continue down this long and hard path to recovery. Anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated.

See below for full story and video link.

Second Street Video - Steve

Spinal Cord Injury Ontario Article

My name is Steve Cedrone and I am 43 years old. My life was forever changed in the blink of an eye when I suffered a spinal cord injury.

A little while back I was clearing snow and slipped and fell on some ice. I had some minor back pain but didn't think too much of it. I continued to work, but the back pain had kept getting worse. I ended up on short term disability while I waited to have an MRI.

Not too long after my fall, I was on my way to hospital in an ambulance with pain so bad that even the morphine and fentanyl I was given at the hospital couldn't control it.

I had emergency surgery to correct compression on my spinal cord 15 hours later due to a lack of resources in our medical system. As a result of waiting for surgery longer than the recommended 1 hour I should have, I had complications that required a second surgery 9 days later.

Due to the complications and having had compression on my spinal cord for so long, I was left mostly paralyzed from the waist down with little feeling. I require nursing care to regularly change my catheter due to my bladder and bowel, which were also affected by the damage to my spinal cord.

After 10 months of in-patient and out-patient rehabilitation, I'm now able to walk very short distances with a walker wearing foot/leg splints, but most of the time I have to use my wheelchair.

I would love nothing more than to get back to serving the community in my job as a bus driver because I really enjoyed serving my passengers every day and driving for the city. I am unfortunately no longer able to work because my spinal cord injury has left me with limited movement of my lower limbs and severe chronic neuropathic pain.

The pain keeps me up all night with burning/stabbing electric like pains in my legs/feet for hours and hours at a time. I take 31 pills a day of various medications and this still can't control the pain. I'm tired all of the time from the medication side effects and the pain keeping me up each night. There are other treatments I can try for the pain but they are really expensive and not covered by OHIP or insurance. With my income being severely reduced due to my injury, I can't afford these treatments.

I have been through so much trying to get back to a "normal" life and there have also been a lot of expenses that come with such a big life change. I've had to put in a ramp at my home to accommodate my wheelchair and I also had to purchase a lot of equipment and aids like a wheelchair, walker, and a special bed.

I still need to modify my bathroom to accommodate my wheelchair and to allow me to bathe properly without it being painful. I also need to add a safety railing or a chair lift to help me get upstairs. My home is an old war-time house that is very narrow. It makes it very difficult to get around. If I'm able to raise enough in donations I'd like to renovate parts of my home to be more open and liveable for the long-term.

I have always worked hard and helped those around me without expecting anything in return, but now I find myself in need of your help. Thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart for anything you wish to contribute toward my cause. I greatly appreciate it.