My name is Diane Scrimshaw. My husband is Jason Scrimshaw and this is our story. We are a loving, hard working couple devoted to raising our son Danyel, a vibrant 15 year old with complex medical and intellectual special needs.

Our world was turned upside down and inside out when on Jan 18, 2025, Jason was admitted to Victoria Hospital after a sudden onset of focal point seizures. There, he went through a battery of tests to be diagnosed with a very aggressive case of Staph Aureus that was ravaging his body. This nasty infection additionally caused osteomyelitis and endocarditis. We were told that Jason will require a heart valve replacement surgery in the near future.

Shook, but accepting that it appeared that Jay was on the mend, yet another unexpected and unthinkable event happened in the evening of Feb 01, 2025 shortly after we left his room: Jay had a large hemmorageaic stroke in his right frontal lobe which has resulted in paralysis of the entire left side of his body. He has since regained the ability to eat and speak and he has feeling along his left side but he cannot willingly move his left arm, hand, fingers, leg or foot. At one point, there were talks of brain surgery to reduce the swelling and help stop the brain bleed, spinal surgery because he had an abscess between the L3 and L4 vertebraes touching the spinal cord and the pending heart valve replacement. It was a very scary time for us. At this time, we only have to proceed with the heart valve replacement. Jason also takes 2 anti-seizures medications per day to help prevent future strokes. He also now suffers from aphasia, and memory loss.

This hard working man is no longer able to financially contribute to our household income for the foreseeable future other than the small monthly amount granted for CPP Disability.

We don’t know what the outcome will be as it is very early in his care. As you can imagine this event creates increased financial strain on our family with the additional medical costs for medication not covered under their plans, the very expensive medical supplies and equipment (stretcher transfers to and from medical appointments, incontinence products, hoyer lift sling, hospital bed and special air mattress for home care... to name a few) that have to be paid out of pocket. We also have to pay out of pocket for a manual wheelchair and a sizable portion of a power wheelchair that would help Jay regain independence and rejoin life in a meaningful way. Jay does not qualify for ODSP, which would cover 25% of a wheelchair purchase because it's a broken system - yet he is disabled and currently unable to work while he is in recovery.

Jay was discharged on July 3rd but not without having to make modifications at home like removing carpets and paying $2k to have laminate installed in our living room to allow easy use of the hospital bed, hoyer lift and wheelchair. We had to give up our sofa, living room tables and area rugs. Something we did without hesitation because Jay is worth it and our family needed to be together again after being apart for almost 7 months.

After all of these steps, we have learned that we have to leave our rental home of 13 years because it cannot be made accessible for entry and exit, making it a safety issue to say the least. Luckily, our property management has worked with us and we have found an amazing apartment that is going to meet most of our new needs. Needless to say, this move also comes with additional one time costs with hiring of movers and a stretcher transfer to get Jay settled into our new place, and a few items needed like window treatments, mobility aids.

After the GOFUNDME fees, 100% will go to the Scrimshaw Family to directly help with the costs associated with ongoing medical and moving expenses. I would like to initiate this go fund me for my amazingly resilient husband of almost 20 years to try to fundraise 20k for mobility aids, medication & supply costs.

We need your support, all the support we can get at this time. Please consider donating to this loving and hard working man. I will keep posting updates of Jason's progress!

Thank you. Please share.