Reunite Paralyzed Crime Victim Mom with Daughter

Help Michelle, a single mother and victim of violence, who was left paralyzed and separated from her daughter due to a severe spinal cord injury. After a year of immense struggle and progress in therapy, she now faces a critical challenge. Insurance cuts have forced her into a less equipped facility, halting her recovery and keeping her away from her daughter. Your support can help her regain her independence, reunite with her daughter, and continue her inspiring journey of healing and helping others.

On November 21, 2022 Michelle was the victim of a senseless act of violence. A gunshot struck her in the back, severing her spinal cord and leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. She was rushed to the hospital for life saving surgery, however the damage to the spinal cord was too severe and irreversible. In an instant, her life was changed forever.

She was diagnosed with a T11/T12 Complete Spinal Cord injury, the most severe type for her injury with the least optimistic outlook. It comes with a prognosis of chronic, severe pain. However, that has not been the most excruciating part for Michelle.

Her life to that point was single minded, her daughter Anabelle. A single mother, Michelle’s world revolved around caring for her daughter, the two were inseparable. You could find them bike riding, exploring nature, making art, traveling, amongst so many other things. Their absolute favorite times though were the little moments, eating ice cream and snuggling. That life they shared was taken from them.

Michelle has spent the past year in hospitals and rehabilitation centers separated from her daughter. Fighting every day to relearn how to live without the use of her lower body. Tasks that we take for granted became monumental obstacles. Although the function in her legs is gone, due to the severity of nerve damage, there remains extreme neuropathic pain. Pain that she agonizingly fights through because it brings her closer to her daughter.

Now she’s hit a roadblock. Although she’s made incredible progress over the past year, insurance has determined she’s reached her baseline and will no longer cover inpatient physical therapy. Because of that decision she has been moved out of the spinal cord center she was in to a nursing home that does not have the capability to care for someone with her injury.

As long as she’s in a facility, she doesn’t qualify for disability assistance to get the resources she needs to be on her own where she could be with her daughter and qualify for outpatient therapy. She is essentially trapped in a facility that cannot care for her and is preventing her from obtaining the resources to be with her daughter and get the care she needs.

In the two months since the determination was made her physical and mental state have deteriorated exponentially. Despite being the most optimistic person I know she is losing hope. The new facility is further from her daughter so the visits have become less frequent and she is exceedingly isolated.

Michelle had exceeded every prognosis in the first 10 months. She was regaining independence; miraculously, feeling and muscle use in the upper part of her legs was coming back and she was re-diagnosed an incomplete spinal cord injury. Since the discontinuation of therapy and subsequent move, further from her daughter, her progress has diminished. Every study reports the body’s greatest chance at healing itself and regaining function happen within the first two years.

At this point, we are reaching out to friends, family, and anyone with the ability to offer any kindness. Michelle’s only concern is reunification with her daughter. She is desperately seeking affordable housing so she can get out on her own, restart therapy, and have a home for herself and Anabelle.

She needs help in securing a deposit and the first few months’ rent. For the home, she will need handicap accessible equipment (transfer equipment for bathroom and shower, hospital grade bed, etc.). Insurance will only cover her very basic needs. She will need therapy equipment (i.e. standing frames, therapy mats, exercise equipment (imagine sitting in a chair 24/7)) so she could begin therapy on her own and regain the progress she made early on. She will also need wheelchair accessories (i.e. power attachment for manual chair to reduce wear on shoulders).

This list is by no means the extent of items that would benefit Michelle, however these are the necessities she will need to be independent and reunite with her daughter. She has herself, her manual chair, her heart, and an unwavering determination to be with her daughter. Everything else has been taken from her.

Michelle is selfless, kind, and compassionate. She plans to use her story to become a mentor with The Christopher Reeve Foundation and work with women and mothers with spinal cord injuries to show them how beautiful life can still be. She also plans to return to school and become an aesthetician, focusing on women in the wheelchair community. Her thoughts lay with her daughter and other crime victims, hoping to inspire them that anything is possible no matter what life throws at you. If you know of any resources available to people with spinal cord injuries please reach out via the contact below.

Thank you all and God Bless.