Friends and family, as some of you may know, Ashleigh Crum was involved in a pretty significant 4-wheeler crash on August 10th. What was meant to be a fun day celebrating the dog days of summer ended with a very tragic crash. She received some pretty significant injuries but also some fantastic care. She has multiple skull fractures, a brain bleed (which has since subsided), and a giant contusion on the back of her head among countless other less significant injuries at the time. She was mercy flighted to Great Falls to be with a neurology team. She received care there for 7 days. When we brought her home, we realized that she might be experiencing another injury to her hip/pelvis and ended up back in the ER in Helena. Nothing is broken, but they are suspicious of some spinal involvement. She will need to have an MRI to confirm but won’t be able to have that until the staples come out of her head. Tomorrow, we will follow up with an ENT as she is also experiencing some ear pain and periodic hearing loss in her ear. They are suspicious that she may have broken some smaller bones in her ear causing these issues.

Why we are asking for help: Ashleigh is a young professional who has worked very hard at “adulting.” As a Registered Dental Hygienist with now a TBI (total brain injury), it will be a while before life gets back on track for her. She has had some fantastic care thus far, but as we all know, it is very expensive. She does not have any sort of disability insurance to help protect her wages through this period of healing. Ashleigh is so fortunate to have a wide net of family, friends, coworkers, and clients that have asked what can we do to help. The healing part is going to be the most difficult part of this. Second to that will be financially staying on track and recovering from extensive medical debt.

How you can help: Donate, share this post, send prayers and positive vibes her way, and continue to encourage her to get up, get moving, and help her with activities to keep her mental health in check. What we are learning about brain injuries and this healing process is that every day is different. Some better than others. We also know that Ashleigh’s new “normal” will look different than her past. Above and beyond all of this, please let this be a reminder to us all that helmets save lives!