Dear family and friends,

We wanted to share an update about Steve and let everyone know where things stand.

As many of you know, he was involved in a terrible accident while on a cruise in Italy to celebrate his son’s wedding. On August 16, he suffered a cervical spinal cord injury after falling and nearly drowning onboard Sun Princess. He was found in the pool face down and unresponsive. He was then taken to a hospital in Naples via an Italian coast guard boat, where he was immediately admitted to the intensive care unit and placed on a ventilator.

The doctors discovered severe compression of his spinal cord at the C3–C4 level of his neck. He underwent emergency spinal surgery on August 17 to relieve the pressure on his spinal cord and stabilize the damaged area of his neck. The surgery was completed successfully, but the injury to his spinal cord is severe. Following the injury and surgery, he is currently diagnosed as quadriplegic and unable to breathe on his own.

Right now, Steve remains in the ICU. He is sedated, intubated, and on a mechanical ventilator to help him breathe. The doctors currently describe him as critical but hemodynamically stable, which we are incredibly grateful for given the severity of what happened. His body is still fighting through the trauma of the accident and surgery. He is also being treated for a multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection that was found in his lungs, likely from the drowning, during his hospitalization.

Our biggest challenge right now is navigating the Italian healthcare system. While they’re doing their best, they are not well equipped for this type of situation, nor will they cooperate with us regarding his care, independent of the language barrier. We are unable to access clinical records, contact his care team, or visit him for more than one hour a day in a short time window. We’re thankful for the scraps of information we’ve received so far, which has allowed us to get American physicians involved.

We are working through the medical, logistical, and financial challenges of arranging an appropriate medical transport and getting him to a hospital in the United States. The current goal is to make him as comfortable as possible, regardless of the outcome.

We know many of you are worried and wondering how you can help. For now, the greatest things you can do are keep Steve in your thoughts and prayers, share this page with anyone who cares about him, and help us spread the word as we navigate this incredibly difficult situation.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for every prayer, message, phone call, kind thought, and offer of support. Knowing that Steve is loved by so many people who love him means more to our family than we can put into words.

With love,

Steve Junker’s family