Dear friends and family,

I find it very uncomfortable publicly sharing my story, but based on the circumstances, it is necessary and important that all of the wonderful people in my life are aware of my current situation.

Here is what happened.

As many of you know, I relocated back to California in July, 2023 after living in Peru for 6.5 years. My goal was to complete my university degree, then work and gather experience substitute teaching before entering a teaching credential program. My final semester went excellent, where my focus and persistence resulted in a 4.0 in all five of my courses. Upon graduation in December, I received the 30-Day substitute permit and began searching for consistent employment. I thoroughly enjoyed substitute teaching in a few schools, and had just received an offer of full-time employment working as a classroom aide.

Then it happened. On my way to the first day of training for the classroom aide position, my bus began approaching 5 minutes early to its stop. I broke into a sprint, miscalculated how close I was to the curb and went down. I fell hard and fast off of the curb, slamming into the cement. My left foot impacted first, turning my ankle inward at an almost 90-degree angle. I then smashed my right upper torso, breaking my shoulder (proximal humerus) and bruising my ribs as I hit the cement. In the following days I would start to feel pain in many other areas of my body.

Miraculously, a gentleman named Mark, who was walking his dog appeared on the scene almost instantly. Moments later, a classmate from my Ethnic Studies course also appeared. Mark left to pick up his truck and drive me to the emergency room at Mad River Community Hospital. It was immediately determined that my left ankle should be reduced by putting it back into its place. I received my first dose of morphine, and was given an anesthesia while the emergency room team put my foot back into its place. The team at Mad River searched for somewhere to transfer me to for emergency orthopedic surgery. Many hospitals were either too full or unable to accommodate me based on my injuries.

After almost 24 excruciatingly painful hours in the emergency room, I was airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. The trauma team at UCDMC was phenomenal, with 12 different medical personnel attending to me simultaneously upon my arrival. I received a number of scans, x-rays and blood tests. Then, the orthopedic surgeon examined my left foot, and made gentle adjustments as he put it into a plaster cast splint.

Over the next two days, I continued to receive numerous tests, while the trauma and orthopedic teams at UCDMC determined how to address my shoulder and foot injuries.

Thankfully, despite having numerous open wounds on my left foot, there was no exposure of bone and I was not at high risk for infection. The fractures determined that a surgery would be unnecessary for the extremely dislocated and separated ankle and foot based on minimal fractures and fragmentation of the bones.

The surgery on my right shoulder was a success. The right proximal humerus bone was put back into place and secured with a plate and 12 screws. Both before and after the surgery I have been unable to move my right arm.

Here is where I am now. I will have to stay in Sacramento for the next month as I receive physical therapy, attend follow up appointments and remain close by the UC Davis Medical Center in case anything unexpected arises. I am unable to stand or use my right arm for at least a month. It will be at least three months before I’ll be able to regain the mobility necessary to be to return to work.

I have been incredibly blessed with the love and support of my family. That being said, I am now looking at multiple months of rent, utility bills, medical bills not covered by Medi-Cal, groceries and general living expenses without the possibility of working and earning money in the field of education that I love so much. I also have to be realistic about my future physical limitations and look toward purchasing a car for work transportation rather than walking everywhere as I had done previously.

This is very challenging for me as I have never had to ask for this type of assistance and kindness from my dear family and friends. As I try to focus on healing from this terrible accident, I have increasingly found the financial burden associated with it very overwhelming, stressful and a distraction to recovering my health and mobility.

All of your prayers, love, healing energy and monetary donations are sincerely appreciated and cherished. If you are able to help me at this time, I would be immensely grateful!

Take care,

Ben