Help Paul (Brandon) walk again!
Donation protected
I will never forget the moment my world collapsed. I woke up on a sunny fall morning to urgent phone calls from my ex-husband alerting me that our son had been in a horrible accident.
Paul, or Brandon as family calls him (his middle name) is 24 years old with his whole life ahead of him. He was working at Gentle Creek County Club in Prosper, Tx, had just moved into a new apartment and was preparing to return to school. He had dreams of attending culinary school and/or becoming a firefighter like his grandfather.
October 3rd, 2015 those dreams were shattered when he fell asleep at the wheel on his way home from visiting with friends. The road curved and his car didn't. He left the highway in the middle of a construction zone, struck loose gravel and flipped his car. It rolled several times. He is 6'4 and was in a Honda Civic hybrid. A car that he had purchased just months before, proud of himself for picking a responsible car. The problem with a very tall young man in a small car is that there was nowhere for him to go and his spinal cord was compressed, shattering three vertebrae.
The Melissa FD cut him out of the car and he was life flighted to Medical Center of Plano. He had left his wallet at his friends home and his car was still registered at his old address so the police were unable to locate a relative. It was Sunday morning, the 4th, before we knew he had been in an accident. By then he had already had emergency surgery repairing burst fractures at L1 and L2. He had just started breathing on his own again and an industrious nurse googled his last name and located his grandmother.
He suffered another fracture at L5 that was not repaired. Also, a tramatic brain injury and diffuse axion injury in the brain. He was in the hospital from 10/3 to 10/20 when he was transferred to Medical Center of Lewisville Rehabilitation unit.
He is making good progress in rehab. The problem is that his insurance covers almost nothing. Despite doing everything "right", working since he was old enough to work and carrying health insurance, he finds himself in a position where many of the things he needs are not covered. He will soon be discharged from inpatient rehab and we are scrambling to make sure out patient therapy and the equipment he needs will be there.
We have been told repeatedly that because of his age and strength he has very good prospects for recovery, but only if he recieves the help that he needs. Right now he is considered a parapalegic, partially paralyzed from the waist down. In the two weeks of inpatient therapy that his insurance did cover, he has made remarkable progress. He can now move his right leg at the knee, ankle and toes. The more progress he makes now, in the beginning, the better his long term prognosis is.
I have spent my professional life working with children with disabilities and developmental delays. I know how vitally important therapy is to his recovery. I cannot express enough how grateful we are for every gain he has already made, for all the thoughts and prayers already sent his way. We are blessed beyond belief that he survived his accident and that he doesn't have worse injuries. Looking at the pictures of the car, it's nothing short of a miracle that he is still with us.
Now we are hoping for another miracle, that he will have the funds needed to help him walk again. If you can help with that, no matter how small the amount, you will be participating in that miracle. And you will, of course, have our eternal gratitude and thanks. If you can't contribute financially, please share this so that others may and please continue in your prayers for his recovery.
Thank you and God Bless!
Angela Harrison Darland (his mother)
Paul Miskimen (Father)
Maxine Miskimen (grandmother)
Linda and Jeff Somers (grandparents)
Paul, or Brandon as family calls him (his middle name) is 24 years old with his whole life ahead of him. He was working at Gentle Creek County Club in Prosper, Tx, had just moved into a new apartment and was preparing to return to school. He had dreams of attending culinary school and/or becoming a firefighter like his grandfather.
October 3rd, 2015 those dreams were shattered when he fell asleep at the wheel on his way home from visiting with friends. The road curved and his car didn't. He left the highway in the middle of a construction zone, struck loose gravel and flipped his car. It rolled several times. He is 6'4 and was in a Honda Civic hybrid. A car that he had purchased just months before, proud of himself for picking a responsible car. The problem with a very tall young man in a small car is that there was nowhere for him to go and his spinal cord was compressed, shattering three vertebrae.
The Melissa FD cut him out of the car and he was life flighted to Medical Center of Plano. He had left his wallet at his friends home and his car was still registered at his old address so the police were unable to locate a relative. It was Sunday morning, the 4th, before we knew he had been in an accident. By then he had already had emergency surgery repairing burst fractures at L1 and L2. He had just started breathing on his own again and an industrious nurse googled his last name and located his grandmother.
He suffered another fracture at L5 that was not repaired. Also, a tramatic brain injury and diffuse axion injury in the brain. He was in the hospital from 10/3 to 10/20 when he was transferred to Medical Center of Lewisville Rehabilitation unit.
He is making good progress in rehab. The problem is that his insurance covers almost nothing. Despite doing everything "right", working since he was old enough to work and carrying health insurance, he finds himself in a position where many of the things he needs are not covered. He will soon be discharged from inpatient rehab and we are scrambling to make sure out patient therapy and the equipment he needs will be there.
We have been told repeatedly that because of his age and strength he has very good prospects for recovery, but only if he recieves the help that he needs. Right now he is considered a parapalegic, partially paralyzed from the waist down. In the two weeks of inpatient therapy that his insurance did cover, he has made remarkable progress. He can now move his right leg at the knee, ankle and toes. The more progress he makes now, in the beginning, the better his long term prognosis is.
I have spent my professional life working with children with disabilities and developmental delays. I know how vitally important therapy is to his recovery. I cannot express enough how grateful we are for every gain he has already made, for all the thoughts and prayers already sent his way. We are blessed beyond belief that he survived his accident and that he doesn't have worse injuries. Looking at the pictures of the car, it's nothing short of a miracle that he is still with us.
Now we are hoping for another miracle, that he will have the funds needed to help him walk again. If you can help with that, no matter how small the amount, you will be participating in that miracle. And you will, of course, have our eternal gratitude and thanks. If you can't contribute financially, please share this so that others may and please continue in your prayers for his recovery.
Thank you and God Bless!
Angela Harrison Darland (his mother)
Paul Miskimen (Father)
Maxine Miskimen (grandmother)
Linda and Jeff Somers (grandparents)
Organizer
Angela Harrison Darland
Organizer
Blue Ridge, TX