Sunday, April 27, 2025, was a perfect spring day but its evening brought an unthinkable tragedy to Janel and her family. A visit to the family home by the Montgomery County Maryland police delivered the news—Michael, 25, her oldest son was in a motorcycle accident and in route to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. With little other details, Janel made her way to the hospital, where she learned that Michael arrived in the trauma bay with life-threatening injuries. A mother’s nightmare began—no, he couldn’t be seen; no, he was not conscious; no, additional information was not known; yes, the trauma team would update her. And they did.

The force of the motorcycle and car collision left Michael with traumatic brain injuries, a broken pelvis, severe wounds, and facial and heel fractures. Then the doctor gave a heartbreaking prognosis —Michael would not live through the night. Those that need to say goodbye should be called.

And this same group was called when Michael lived through the night, when he was in and out of not one, but five surgeries in a two-week period, when he was successfully removed from life-support, when he woke from his coma, and when on May 23, he spoke his first words “I’m good,” when asked how he was.

Janel stands as Michael’s most fierce healthcare and recovery advocate, but as with most advocacy efforts there have been sacrifices—personal, professional, and financial. Janel, a Montgomery County school teacher, has not left Michael’s side since that night in the trauma bay and her advocacy secured Michael an inpatient admission to Shepherd Center Rehabilitation’s neurorehabilitation program, Atlanta, Georgia. He and Janel were Medi-flighted to Shepherd, May 29 and Michael’s best chance at rehabilitation is underway through a 10-week intensive program, but one having significant fiscal impact on Janel.

Regrettably, Michael will “age out” of Janel’s health insurance when he turns 26 on June 22, requiring Janel to pay the costly Continuation of Health Coverage (COBRA) to keep him medically insured. Additionally, an extended absence from work moves Janel into a non-paid leave status and increases her fiscal burden, as the leave status obliges her to exclusively pay healthcare premiums for herself and her youngest son.

Maya Angelou said it best—"Giving liberates the soul of the giver. Collaboration is truly the key to great things."

Please consider how you can best support Janel in her quest to be present for Michael, while simultaneously managing the financial demands and impact of his care.

Together, we can help Janel navigate an extraordinary challenge and transform Michael’s “I’m good” to “I’m back.”