This is my cousin Sage. He is on the left in this picture with his twin brother Zion.  Sage was born in Seattle but has lived in New Zealand with his parents since he was two years old. 
Sage is an amazing kid who loves all sports but particularly American basketball (Hoosier blood) and has spent most of his life honing his basketball skills. Until now. 
Sage has scoliosis and a little over a year ago at the age of 14 he had an operation to correct it. However there were complications.  The doctors say that they don’t know for sure what caused the mistake but they think that when the surgeon snipped two nerve pathways to gain access to the ribs that caused Sage’s spinal cord to drop onto his scoliosis curve, injuring the spinal cord.
Initially Sage was paralyzed from his waist down but once they finished the operation he had some feeling in his legs so they knew at least the cord wasn’t severed. 
At first we thought that malpractice insurance could fund his recovery only to find out that New Zealand law does not allow medical malpractice lawsuits.  It’s just as well though because when the subject was brought to Sage his comment was, “I don’t want to do that. Everyone makes mistakes”. That gives you an idea of the kind of spirit Sage has. 
On top of that his insurance will not pay for rehabilitation costs outside of NZ, howeverthey don’t have the type of treatment necessary to rehabilitate this type of injury. 
Sage needs physical therapy that is only available in the United States. 
He spent a few months in the US over the last year getting some of the treatment and physical therapy he needs at Shriner’s hospital in Philadelphia. The cost has put an enormous strain on the family and they are just about tapped out.  The travel alone an enormous expense.  Ronald McDonald House has been a great help with some housing assistance. 
Sage is coming back in January and so I’m hoping to raise some money for them to cover at least part of the costs. 
Sage is a fighter. He has attended school in a wheelchair and plugged back into life but without the activities and sports that have always been his source of friendship and accomplishment is been emotionally difficult for the whole family. Sage has pushed himself very hard over the last year and has made some progress but he told me recently that he felt he was losing hope, that he was starting to give up.
I told him that it's natural to have doubts, but that he should never loose his vision or confidence that God would intervene on his behalf. I told him to keep praying and believing in his vision for his future. 
The vision of him walking, playing basketball, dancing again. 
The vision of his recovery.
Please help me help this amazing kid.