Recovery fund for Stephen Jr.
Donation protected
I want to thank everyone for the kind words, thoughts, prayers, messages, phone calls, and visits to the hospital for my sweet brother Stephen Jr.
Stephen is a student at Grand Canyon University studying computer science. He is in his first semester of college, however did not get to finish his last two finals.
Stephen was hit by a car when he was waiting at a bus stop after class right outside of GCU on the evening of Nov. 28th. He was taken to the trauma ICU with a broken collar bone, broken femur, several fractured ribs, fractured toes, injuries to his spleen and liver, deep tissue bruising, and 100 stitches on his face and head. He spent several days in ICU and is still in the hospital being treated for his injuries and infections. Stephen has surgery on his femur and collar bone, and will need knee surgery down the line. He is still not able to move his left leg but is slowly working on getting from his bed to a wheelchair.
He will be transferred to a rehab facility soon in order to get more physical therapy. Doctors say it will take 3-6 months for him to recover with physical therapy.
We got the police report and found out that the driver who hit him had NO LICENSE and NO INSURANCE. She was in the car with two other people, and one of them was 9 months pregnant. The car did not belong to her, and had expired plates. The report says the driver was not drunk.
The most important thing is that Stephen is alive and will eventually heal. We are so blessed and God was watching after him. But with this person having no insurance, it makes this whole situation more frustrating. The hospital bills will be huge, my mom is taking unpaid time off work, Stephen's computer and cell phone were destroyed, he did not get to finish his first semester of college, he will live with trauma for the rest of his life - and the driver will not be held responsible for any of it.
To be fully transparent, Stephen is covered by my mom's health insurance but it will not cover all of the hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs. This includes being transported to the ER, spending several days in the ICU, a total of 12 days in the hospital, femur surgery, collar bone surgery, knee surgery, 10-14 day stay at a rehab facility, medication, and many months of outpatient physical therapy - plus more that I am probably forgetting.
We are unsure that the driver that did this to him will ever pay since she was uninsured. This is such a hard time for our family. In addition to the medical costs, my mom (who is a single mother) has taken unpaid time off of work to be with Stephen, and will need to take additional time off work for physical therapy family training, and to care for my brother when he finally comes home. She is still working but will have to work less hours. This makes it extremely difficult for my mom to pay for our family's bills, mortgage, groceries, and costs of gas needed to go to and from the hospital/rehab center everyday.
Myself, Stephen's sister, intend to help my family as much as I possibly can but unfortunately can only do so much since I am a teacher and don't make a ton of money.
I am sharing all of these details in order to be fully transparent. My mom doesn't like to ask for help and I don't want people to think we are trying to be greedy. We are not expecting a lot. ANY AMOUNT HELPS. Even if you can't donate, please share Stephen's story with others.
We greatly appreciate everyone's concern for Stephen and willingness to help out in any possible way. We are grateful for any amount donated, sharing this post, or for simply reading this through. Thank you.
Stephen is a student at Grand Canyon University studying computer science. He is in his first semester of college, however did not get to finish his last two finals.
Stephen was hit by a car when he was waiting at a bus stop after class right outside of GCU on the evening of Nov. 28th. He was taken to the trauma ICU with a broken collar bone, broken femur, several fractured ribs, fractured toes, injuries to his spleen and liver, deep tissue bruising, and 100 stitches on his face and head. He spent several days in ICU and is still in the hospital being treated for his injuries and infections. Stephen has surgery on his femur and collar bone, and will need knee surgery down the line. He is still not able to move his left leg but is slowly working on getting from his bed to a wheelchair.
He will be transferred to a rehab facility soon in order to get more physical therapy. Doctors say it will take 3-6 months for him to recover with physical therapy.
We got the police report and found out that the driver who hit him had NO LICENSE and NO INSURANCE. She was in the car with two other people, and one of them was 9 months pregnant. The car did not belong to her, and had expired plates. The report says the driver was not drunk.
The most important thing is that Stephen is alive and will eventually heal. We are so blessed and God was watching after him. But with this person having no insurance, it makes this whole situation more frustrating. The hospital bills will be huge, my mom is taking unpaid time off work, Stephen's computer and cell phone were destroyed, he did not get to finish his first semester of college, he will live with trauma for the rest of his life - and the driver will not be held responsible for any of it.
To be fully transparent, Stephen is covered by my mom's health insurance but it will not cover all of the hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs. This includes being transported to the ER, spending several days in the ICU, a total of 12 days in the hospital, femur surgery, collar bone surgery, knee surgery, 10-14 day stay at a rehab facility, medication, and many months of outpatient physical therapy - plus more that I am probably forgetting.
We are unsure that the driver that did this to him will ever pay since she was uninsured. This is such a hard time for our family. In addition to the medical costs, my mom (who is a single mother) has taken unpaid time off of work to be with Stephen, and will need to take additional time off work for physical therapy family training, and to care for my brother when he finally comes home. She is still working but will have to work less hours. This makes it extremely difficult for my mom to pay for our family's bills, mortgage, groceries, and costs of gas needed to go to and from the hospital/rehab center everyday.
Myself, Stephen's sister, intend to help my family as much as I possibly can but unfortunately can only do so much since I am a teacher and don't make a ton of money.
I am sharing all of these details in order to be fully transparent. My mom doesn't like to ask for help and I don't want people to think we are trying to be greedy. We are not expecting a lot. ANY AMOUNT HELPS. Even if you can't donate, please share Stephen's story with others.
We greatly appreciate everyone's concern for Stephen and willingness to help out in any possible way. We are grateful for any amount donated, sharing this post, or for simply reading this through. Thank you.
Organiser
Lizza Dacut
Organiser
Phoenix, AZ