Renny's Fight: Overcome Paralysis Together

This is Mikasa McKnight, girlfriend to Renny Hellickson who has had some major health complications arise. We are asking for your help in any way. This has completely changed our lives and his ability to work and perform normal daily tasks. Renny is currently paralyzed waist down after a surgery.

Here is the whole story:

This October, we went on a work trip to Florida to do some insurance adjusting work due to Milton. He and I both were carrying the ladder, going up on roofs to perform home inspections, documenting damage, writing reports, etc.

Renny has mentioned having ongoing back, neck, and shoulder issues from when he used to play sports when younger, such as football, basketball, and baseball. It was nothing ever major to my knowledge.

One day, all of a sudden, Renny was in major pain and discomfort. It was so debilitating that he could not even walk or hardly move. He thought it might go away, so we waited it out. It did not go away, and it lasted seven days. During these seven days, we tried everything. His chiropractor friend gave him adjustments, I got him a telehealth appointment, and I took him to an urgent care where he got a steroid injection. He was prescribed muscle relaxers and some pain medications, but nothing was working.

I called the ambulance, and he went to the emergency room, and they performed a CT scan. The pain drugs, even at the ER, were not enough and hardly effective. Finally, when they gave him morphine, he had some pain relief and smiled. The nurse there said because he smiled that he was drug-seeking. The doctor found nothing unusual, and they sent us home with no pain medication or prescription of any kind, saying he just had sprained or strained his back. The next few days were still pure agony and pain with Renny screaming, yelling, and moaning, but he had made some progress and was able to stand and kind of walk (shuffling and grabbing walls).

However, now he could not get comfortable to lay down to sleep, rest, or relax. I could not calm him or reason with him. He was awake for 24 hours yelling in pain, and I called the ambulance again. The pain had gotten to his mental state. When the paramedics came, after hearing about everything, they said he must have sciatica. Renny almost sent them away, but I told them something needs to be done, and so the paramedic asked Renny what year we are in, but Renny could not answer.

This time at the ER, they found he had high blood pressure and a high white blood cell count, among other concerning things. They made the decision to transfer him to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and ran several tests and assessed many things. They found he had osteomyelitis, a bone infection in his lower spine. A surgery was going to possibly need to be performed to relieve the pressure, which was high risk and could cause paralysis. They discovered he had an abscess on his fifth lumbar.

On November 13th at 2:52 am, I got the call that the antibiotics were not doing enough and that he was going to need the surgery, or laminectomy. The surgeon performed a C3-C7 laminectomy, which removes the lamina (roof of the vertebra) and may also remove bone spurs or damaged discs through the back of Renny's neck. Its purpose was to relieve pressure on his spinal cord and nerves.

After this operation, Renny has been paralyzed from the waist down. He does not have fine motor skills and cannot use his hands (I have been doing mostly everything for him along nurses) or move his legs. He has transferred out of the ICU and is now in the Progressive Care Unit (PCU). However, this is going to be a long journey. With physical therapy and learning and retraining himself, they do believe he can get back about 90% and will be able to walk again, but it may take several years.

This has completely changed his ability to work or perform normal daily tasks. I am begging and asking if you have anything or would be so kind to donate, not even a lot, or even share his story, it would mean the world to us. Any and all proceeds will go towards his medical bills, expenses, and potential work opportunities. This has caused a major setback financially, and anyone who knows Renny knows he does not like asking for help, but we are in an extremely difficult situation.