Who am I?

My name is David and I hope you read my story all the way through. I am a now, 42 year old, non-verbal, microcephaly diagnosed, 100% dependent adult that misses living with his Sister, his best friend and caregiver of many, many years, Adam and his nephew. I missed my Dad a lot these past 4 years and didn’t know where he was since I can’t do anything for myself, I couldn’t just call him to ask where he was or email him or whatever. Well now I know that my Dad was fighting for me and always has been, my whole life, by making sure his guardianship stayed in good standing with the courts. I am thankful he came for me, and I am grateful that I am finally starting to play with my new toys and can feel myself getting stronger daily. I’m anxious to get back to the state I know best – Oregon. My Dad is trying to get me justice too, but he keeps reminding me that my only job is to just get better and smile again.

David’s Journey Back to Oregon

My name is Scott and I am David’s dad and I am his sole Guardian. After working tirelessly since June to get David out of the living situation he was in for fear of losing his life there, we finally were able to retrieve David on February 10th of this year. Upon seeing his condition, we instantly realized he was in no condition to travel safely and that what his family physician said to us of “all you can do is try” to take him back to Oregon (a 4 day by car trip) was an incompetent and grossly wrong thing to say. We took David to an Emergency Room in Sioux Falls (which is where he was moved to without permission from the courts or myself as a co-guardian), where police were notified of his severely malnourished condition and he was then admitted to hospital with this life-threatening condition. David was 5ft tall, and 55lbs (likely less due to the 7lbs noted later in this that was removed from his bowels).

Severe Bowel Impaction

David was barely moving when we picked him up and he had no interest in anything. He was lethargic, his body was completely emaciated, and you could tell he was suffering tremendously. His first couple weeks in the hospital were spent going through the uncomfortable process of an NG tube sucking out contents in his stomach, and getting his bowels cleaned out as he was completely backed up all the way to his stomach. By the end of the two weeks, he had over 7lbs of stool removed. He only stopped doing laxatives and other aids this past week and has been having regular bowel movements as of the end of last week.

NG Tube, Refeeding Syndrome, PEG Tube

Once David’s bowels showed signs of clearing, they were finally able to attempt feeding via the NG. Sadly, he had a bit of setback with refeeding syndrome hitting him which resulted in him pulling out his tube, vomiting and then seizing the one morning and feeding stopped until they could see if he was ok. The feeding resumed that night at ½ the dosage with hopes that he would begin to tolerate it better at a slower rate. This approach seemed to work as David gradually moved to his goal amount last week. During this time they switched from the NG tube to a much safer option of the P.E.G. Tube that was inserted into his stomach. Feedings have since changed again as of March 10th to a syringe being used to put his food in 3 times a day instead of all day since David happily has started regaining his interest in eating regular foods again (although they are pureed at the moment).

Going home to Oregon

Just over a one month into David’s hospital stay now and we are finally seeing a light at the end of this long journey in South Dakota.

David celebrated his 42nd birthday in hospital surrounded by his Aunties, step-mom, cousin, and the staff at the hospital. He enjoyed banana cream pie pudding and a strawberry milkshake which he was in love with! Despite being uncomfortable and a little overwhelmed with all of the attention and visitors, he had a great day.

Currently, David is repositioned every 2 hours in the hospital to prevent sores on him due to his lack of muscle. He never fully recovered from a neck of the femur break in December of 2024, and all of the hardware is visible through his skin for each bone break he has been through which is no doubt causing neuropathy pain on top of the tissue regrowth happening in his body. He is on meds for this and for his seizures.

Now we are getting to the reason we’re coming to the GoFundMe page for some potential help. We’re having to get a medical transport service to take David back to Oregon where he will be going to his sister’s to recover and live (the way it should have been). With David unable to lie safely in our car and receive the care he needs continuously with feeding and position placement we’ve no other choice but to get him a medical transport so we can get him back to the place he will thrive in, instead of a hospital bed in a city he doesn’t know with people he doesn’t know. Our only choices were a plane service ($50,000) or ground transport (our likely choice at $10-12K). We've opted for ground due to it being less expensive but it has depleted all of us monetarily as has the expense of staying away from our business and home in Canada.

There will be ongoing expenses to get David back on his feet and part of that is making sure I'm in Oregon to take care of things timely in the next bit and until David is back on Oregon's assistance we will be covering as needed.

This is where we would like to ask if you can help us with this expense in any way, even if just sharing this with whomever you can – it all helps. Every little bit helps.

All of us in David’s family thank everyone for all of the love, prayers, and healing energy he has been receiving to get him to this point in his journey and for the road to recovery ahead.