Support Damian's Recovery from Brain Injury

On Sunday, October 27th, our son Damian had a bad accident resulting in him being rushed to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester. He suffered a large brain bleed as well as facial fractures. The main concern has been his brain bleed - this is our son’s second time with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Although our family has been down this road before, with Damian suffering a TBI from a football injury in 2013, it doesn’t make this any easier.

On Monday, October 28th, Damian underwent a 4 and a half hour brain surgery. In order to avoid performing a full craniotomy, a fairly new procedure was utilized. A small incision was made on Damian’s forehead and surgeons threaded a catheter through his brain to remove the blood clot. This procedure was necessary to allow his brain room to swell in the absence of the blood clot. The brain bleed is located in his left frontal lobe: the part of the brain that is primarily responsible for speech production, language processing, motor movements, and is what “makes you, you.”

The surgery went well, but we have a long road ahead of us. We want to thank his close friends and the bystanders (who happened to be nurses) that were present at the site of the accident; we owe them so much gratitude for their role in saving his life. Our family would also like to thank everyone for their support and prayers during this time.

Unfortunately, with the amazing care that Damian has had access to also comes a financial burden. Bills are accumulating daily and Damian still has a long road to recovery ahead. With everyone’s support, we will get him down this road successfully.

Thank you and God Bless. Please share.

Sincerely, the Ryks Family.