Spencer's SCI Journey

My name is Spencer Allen and I'm a 24 year old civil engineering student at Portland State University. On August 8th, 2015 I was enjoying the sun with friends on the beach at Sauvie's Island when we decided to take a swim that lead to a life changing injury. I sustained a C4, C5 spinal cord injury resulting in paralysis from the chest down. I have limited gross motor movement in my arms, but no movement in my hands, for now. Before being rescued by 2 of my best friends I was drowning and my lungs took on water. The impaired left lung and nerve-damaged vocal cord has been supported by a tracheostomy tube for over 3 months. I spent 58 days at Emanuel hospital and endured several procedures before transferring to the Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon at Good Samaritan hospital. After 17 days in rehab Pneumonia came to pay a visit once more, landing me back in the hospital for 12 more days. Currently I am at day 100 during my journey. I am finally back at RIO partcipating in 3-5 hours of therapy daily. Although I'm still awaiting a discharge date, I look forward to being home by Christmas. Once I am back at home I will continue with a variety outpatient therapy.

At this point in recovery I am ready to reach out to friends and family to help me fund the rest of my journey. Heading home from rehab I will be needing an asortment of medical equipment/furniture to assist my physical needs. Our home will undergo some remodeling to increase accessibility for my electric wheel chair. Besides my electric wheelchair, which will be mostly paid for by insurance, I will be needing to raise money for a manual chair that I hope to be able use to travel with. We also need to purchase a vehicle that will accomodate the wheelchair so I can be transported to school and other places of interest. All of these new additions will cost my family and I quite a bit of money over the next few months, so I'm reaching out to all my amazing supporters that have helped me get to where I am now. The incredible love that you have all displayed over the past few months has encouraged me to push forward through this unexpected challenge. With just a little more help I can continue to push forward and accomplish more than what's expected of me and the outcome of my injury.

I have learned so many valuable lessons from my experience, where I lost every bit of my normal life and have begun to learn how to live a new life with a quadriplegic injury. I have been cared for by amazing nurses, doctors and surgeons, whom are now my heroes and will remain in my heart forever. I hope to continue learning how to find a new balance and achieve everything I have ever hoped to achieve before my injury. I believe, with a little help I can still become an engineer and return to the life I had before my accident, where I was enjoying the outdoors, hiking, backpacking, camping, fishing and so much more. I miss my dog and I'm sure he missing playing fetch with his dad in the backyard. I miss the comfort of my own home relaxing with my amazing girlfriend, Hayleigh, who has stood by my side through the hardest challenge I have ever faced. And she's not the only one. My mother, father, brother and sister have all given me more support than I could have ever hoped for. My best friends, who have somehow found the time to raise me up and keep me battling. To all of them, and to all of you, I thank you for everything you have done to help me. By raising this money you can help me and my amazing team keep pushing forward to accomplish my dreams and beat my injury. With my story I want to spread hope and motivation for others inflicted with this injury, as 50,000 people a year are inflicted with spinal cord injuries, all looking for a little bit of hope in the long road to recovery.

Looking into the future, I will be applying for Project Walk, a world leader in paralysis recovery who strive to improve the lives of people with spinal cord injury disabilities. We are wanting to turn my potential into progress and push the envelope for a full recovery. I hope to fund seperately for this program through my work, Nike, and other organizations that assist people with SCI. If we are unable to obtain these grants and financial support we will be turning to this GoFundMe account for any extra money that may be able to help my girlfriend and I travel to Denver for this unique and advanced rehabilitation that could greatly enhance my recovery.

I could never thank you all enough. Tough times don't last, tough people do!