Sarah's recovery from spine & pelvic injuries

Seven years ago, Sarah was healthy and helping others recover from debilitating injuries. She was a licensed physical therapist and an avid mountaineer but then suffered crippling injuries in her spine and pelvis. Now, at the age of 32, she cannot stand, walk, or sit without extreme pain and worsening of her condition. Currently, she requires all-day assistance to care for her basic needs and avoid perilous regression in her healing. But a full RECOVERY is still possible with the proper support!

This campaign is a rallying cry to all those who believe that each of us can heal. Sarah's journey to regain her strength is a shining example of how a community can support a healer to heal and, in the process, enrich the lives of everyone that she has and will support in the years to come. Providing Sarah access to all the caregiving and health services she needs right now will allow her to make that full recovery, enabling her to return to her path of purpose.

Our pain becomes our purpose when we use it to help others.

Sarah is committed to realizing a day when she can stand on her own two feet again and share her medicine in return. Will you be part of her journey?

This healing is tremendous, and it is a blessing that her condition is entirely resolvable with the proper treatment, physical support, and care. The support of close family and friends has kept Sarah alive, kept the possibility of her healing open, and also pushed the people dearest to her to the limit, often requiring far beyond what is healthy and sustainable for just a few people to provide.

It's a blessing that we have this platform for greater community outreach. All donations will be deposited into a trust established specifically for Sarah’s medical and life expenses. Even if you are not able to donate, please consider sharing this link. Below is a summary of the costs associated with Sarah’s care that are not currently covered by her state and federal benefits.

Description of her expenses:

Housing:

$850/mo

Nutritious food and supplements recommended by her dietician:

$500/mo

Rehabilitation Services:

In-home physical therapy, swallowing rehab therapy, caregiving, chiropractic, and concussion rehab therapy.

$100,000 will give Sarah 2 years of full services and medical support that will have her well on her way to restoration and independence. Your help can create the stability she needs now to truly recover. We hope you will be part of this extraordinary venture. Sarah’s experience has shown that the shortest (and least expensive) road to her recovery is realized with consistent, full support of her rehabilitation needs.

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Sarah has demonstrated resilience, passion, and dedication in many facets of her life. Sarah grew up shellfish farming along side many other hard-working individuals. Most had insufficient healthcare and were forced to push through physically debilitating injuries to keep working without proper support from the medical system. From a young age, she experienced a deep desire to help hard-working people suffering physically and struggling to make a living.

In high school she was a combined 12-time varsity letterman in cross country, wrestling and track. A pioneer in women’s wrestling, she competed on the boy's varsity team all four years. She was a women’s wrestling all-American and state champion in women’s powerlifting. At 17, she discovered the field of physical therapy. She determined that this work would be a legitimate answer to helping people restore their vitality and empower them with physical independence throughout their lives.

Sarah undertook an 8-year full-time academic journey to pursue her doctorate in physical therapy, which she completed in 2016 at age 25. During this time, she simultaneously worked as a shellfish farmer and logger to help fund her education. Two years before graduation, she developed multiple severe injuries in her spine and pelvis from high-intensity wear and tear of the logging work combined with domestic abuse. Unfortunately, the consequences of pushing through the injuries to finish her final two years of school were lasting, despite her attempting to rehabilitate herself while beginning her career as a physical therapist.

Her function declined sharply in the year following the completion of her doctorate until she could no longer sit or stand by July 2017 without worsening her condition. By this point, she was experiencing constant agony in her spine. Sarah’s budding physical therapy career came to a jarring halt. She spent the next three years struggling without the ability to work, maintain stable housing, or access assistance from government programs. She applied for Social Security Disability in 2018 but was repeatedly denied despite multiple appeals.

Her physical condition further deteriorated to the point where in July 2020, she attempted suicide twice in one day when it seemed impossible to access the support necessary to heal. Following hospitalization and a poignant prayer miraculously answered, she chose to stay alive and redouble her efforts in creating a path to healing. A few months later, in September 2020, another prayer was answered when she was at long last qualified for Social Security Disability. This was a life-sustaining turning point that made it possible to access more of the necessary rehabilitation and caregiving services for her recovery. In August 2021, she could finally move out of an RV and into an apartment that could be adapted to meet her physical needs.

She currently suffers severe and constant pain in her pelvis and spine. Her bones, muscles and nerves are repairing slowly, with a high susceptibility for regression. Sarah requires rehabilitation specialists able to come to her home, in addition to custom equipment and skilled all-day caregiving that supports her body functioning safely so her spine and pelvis can heal. Similar to a broken leg that is immobilized and gently cared for, Sarah requires assistance with all mobility and function to protect her healing body from re-injuring (positioning in bed with spine supports, bathroom, bathing, dressing, positioning for eating).

Over the last 2.5 years, Sarah has pieced together more government benefits and received additional help from close family and friends for creating stable housing and supplementing other needs as much as possible. Sarah uses 100% of her monthly SSDI in addition to government COVID emergency low-income funds, which ends January 2023, for basic needs and services. She receives $60 in food stamps/per month. Federal and state disability benefits + Medicaid/Medicare health insurance combined only cover ¼ of her daily caregiving, physical rehab, and other medical costs.

Due to chronically insufficient care hours and inadequate medical support, Sarah has experienced several periods of decline in the past few years that left her even more debilitated. Most recently, this May, she was hospitalized for five days due to dysphasia (difficulty swallowing that impairs eating and drinking) caused by a rare reaction to a medication combined with other complications of her condition. For two months, she was surviving on Ensure nutrition shakes alone.

Fortunately, this May also brought her another life-sustaining turning point. Sarah received an inheritance from her grandfather, which enabled her to access more caregiving, rehabilitation specialists, and adaptive equipment during an especially critical crisis period. This made it possible to build a strong team of medical experts around her and establish a path to full recovery.

Sarah has now progressed to a puréed food diet. She still has to work hard not to choke when she eats and drinks but continues to improve steadily under the guidance of her rehab specialists. It required more than $17,000 spent in rehab and care services over three months to pull her out of this recent regression, and the remaining inheritance funds are depleting quickly to sustain her progress.

The progress she has made in the last six months clarifies the level of resources necessary for her to make a recovery. Despite ongoing challenges and periodic regressions, having stability in adequate resources has made it possible for Sarah to make strides in all areas of recovery, including swallowing, mobility, function, pain levels, and muscle strength. There is now hard-won clarity for what her healing will require, and that it IS 100% POSSIBLE. It is a great blessing to discover that Sarah's full restoration is inevitable with the proper consistent support.

We are acting now to keep the recovery momentum going so Sarah can climb out of disability and return to physical independence.

“The irony of my current predicament is not lost on me. As hard as the past six years have been, what continues to give me strength is knowing the positive impact that I’ve already had on many clients in the short time I worked as a PT, even while I was struggling with my condition. I am driven forward by the vision of how much more of an impact I will make in people’s lives as a healthy, vibrant version of myself. This experience gives me unique strength, awareness and skill to help people in similar conditions restore their lives. As difficult as my days are right now, knowing the difference I can make on the other side of this gives me the focus to keep pushing for recovery. My close family and friends have exerted a monumental effort over the last few years to get me this far, and it is now apparent that support from a broader community is necessary to realize my full recovery, which continues to be possible. It’s just as easy to find an excuse to quit as to find an excuse to keep going. It’s a great honor and a privilege to have this opportunity for true healing and restoration.” ~Sarah

Thank you for taking the time to read Sarah’s story and become part of our community!