Support John's Journey to Recovery and Freedom

Help John Wolter Thrive at Home with His Children to Continue His Healing Journey

Eleven months ago, my brother John (50 years old) was admitted to the hospital as it became clear something unknown was causing confusion with his thoughts and speech and a breakdown of his motor skills. In the ICU, his body’s nervous system, respiratory functioning, and brain were under attack by something life threatening; the diagnosis was slow, then finally West Nile virus. After a ventilator, a trach was placed in his neck for breathing and as he struggled for months with the damage of the virus to his lungs and diaphragm, his arms and legs atrophied because of severe nerve damage– he was unable to lift or move them or even sit up. His life and his family’s changed drastically and over the course of each healing chapter of this new reality now almost a year in time, John has faced many challenges to address the damages to each system of his body. On January 18th he survived a code blue on the operating table during a surgery to replace the trach that had been removed too soon the day before. He stopped breathing during the administration of anesthesia for the surgery and after 15 minutes of CPR started breathing again and returned to his body to begin the excruciating process of recovering a state of healing that would take him onward from ICU– again. I am continually amazed at my brother’s resiliency and determination to live and be able to return home to be with his family and continue to be a presence in his children’s lives, the youngest of whom are twin 16 year old boys.

Today, at the end of what I consider to be the third chapter of his healing, he is going home! In early July he was transferred from Madonna in Lincoln, Nebraska further away from his home and family to continue his rehabilitation at On With Life in Ankeny, Iowa. He incrementally built more strength and movement in his legs, arms, and torso and added tools to his tool belt for assisting his ability to navigate daily life during his second round at Madonna where the acute therapy began, giving him a returned sense of hope and dignity in early May and kept it going at On With Life. Where will this new chapter lead him? Will he be able to heal more fully with the people and surroundings he loves, in his home and outside in nature where he longs to be?

Your help in raising funds for a wheelchair accessible van (price varies- we are looking for a reliable used van) for trips away from home such as therapy appointments and family gatherings, and later a tracked wheelchair ($25,000) that would allow him to navigate the yard around his home, would bridge the gap between available finances and the equipment necessary to move into this next chapter of healing with success and would be deeply appreciated.