Right Foot Forward - Support Aaron's Recovery

Dear Readers,

On March 15, Aaron was caught in an avalanche while ski touring with his touring partner in the Mt. Baker backcountry. You can read the full incident report on Northwest Avalanche Center’s site: https://files.nwac.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/08173714/20230315-Slate-Mt_Final.pdf

He was airlifted by NAS Whidbey to St. Joseph’s in Bellingham and then airlifted to Harborview in Seattle, where he immediately went into prolonged emergency surgery and then received care in the intensive care unit. His hospital stay lasted for over a month while his medical teams attended to his multiple injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, broken ribs, femurs, and pelvis. The damage of these injuries will be long lasting. Most significantly, the injuries on his right leg resulted in an above-knee amputation. He is very lucky that he survived the accident.

Here is a personal message from Aaron:

https://youtu.be/y6RTYuN4p_s

Please consider donating to fund Aaron’s goals:

He understands that the financial burden will be immense. This medical emergency has completely uprooted his and his partner’s life which has had significant unforeseen financial ramifications. A month-long stay in Harborview, helicopter transports and his continued medical care needs for the foreseeable future equate to a lot of medical expenses that his insurance does not cover. Unfortunately, he also does not qualify for WA state paid medical leave and he has had no income as of March 15 and he will not be able to earn income for an extended period of time because of his injuries. These funds will supplement his unpaid leave from work to cover his significant medical bills, cost of living expenses and rehabilitation needs. A more indepth breakdown is below:

Identified needs to date:

Primary medical needs: Aaron needs help with bills incurred that his insurance didn’t cover for significant emergency medical care. Included in that are helicopter transports.

Ongoing medical needs:

Aaron’s continuing care teams include: neurologists, neuro-ophthalmologists, rehab psychologists, speech language pathologists, amputee specific physical therapists, vascular specialists, orthopedic specialsts, dental work, sports medicine, occupational therapists and prosthetists. There are going to be a lot of future medical appointments and testing.

General care: Aaron needs full time care for the very basics of living while he is recovering right now; that has been Maria’s full time job while she took family leave away from work. Aaron still needs full time assistance while he is recovering and adapting to his limb loss and Maria needs to return to work to earn income.

Lifestyle change: Aaron and Maria have had to completely change their living circumstances to accommodate Aaron’s new disability and for him to be closer to his ongoing medical care.

Losing a limb is a lifelong impact. The rehabilitation from an amputation does not have a timeline. While Aaron is at the beginning stages of his journey, his goals are to achieve a high level of function for mobility and independence, and he understands that prosthetics will help him. A portion of these funds will go toward prosthetics and their ongoing maintenance.

For those of you who know Aaron, you know that skiing is in his DNA. He and his significant other, Maria, have dedicated their lives to outdoor pursuits in the mountains, which started in the Green Mountains of Vermont and extended to their many adventures in the western U.S. They, along with their dog Beatrice, have been a part of the Mt. Baker community for more than a decade and were originally drawn there for their shared love of skiing.

If you have spent any time in the mountains up Highway 542 in the winter you would have seen Aaron; he’s the man pushing snow in the ski area parking lots in the 988 Loader, directing traffic on a busy powder day, putting on his ski boots in the lodge while eating french fries, and laying ski tracks in the backcountry and inbounds with friends. In the summer you’d have seen him in his Forest Service uniform and standard issued Stetson, sitting under the popup tent at Artists Point chatting with visitors or presenting information about local area history in the Heather Meadows Visitors Center, and in his free time roaming the high alpine meadows with Maria and Beatrice. In all the places that he and Maria have lived, spending time outdoors is what they’ve built their life around. Community is incredibly important to Aaron and Maria and they love giving back to the outdoor places they call home.

Finding purpose is an important part of the coping process. What is carrying Aaron through this challenging time is envisioning a future in which he is able to continue the outdoor activities he loves. For him, that is spending time outdoors with his family, climbing mountains and skiing. Aaron lost his right leg and he wants to mark his story as Right Foot Forward. Even though his limb is no longer there, he wants to live and weather this storm with a positive attitude and an eye to progress moving forward. Right foot forward is about putting the correct and positive energy forward while also keeping true to his sense of humor (because he doesn’t have a right foot…)

If you know Aaron or Maria, please consider donating to fund his goals. All the funds raised will go directly to support Aaron’s goals and will help him and Maria adapt to these new challenges.

We are so grateful to our family, friends and community who came together to support us during this difficult time. We cannot thank those involved in his rescue and medical care enough; everyone’s efforts together saved Aaron’s life. His ski partner, Mt. Baker Ski Area, NAS Whidbey Island, care providers at St. Joseph’s and Harborview and many other individuals were involved to make this possible. Thank you so much. While this has been an incredibly stressful and life altering experience, the support of our community has been nothing short of inspiring. It’s going to be a long road ahead, but we are committed to finding our new normal. We look forward to returning to our life in the mountains again.

Our sincerest appreciation,

Aaron, Maria and Beatrice