<div>If you know my amazing brother Max, you know his adventurous spirit, his big smile, and his gentle soul. He’s the kind of person who brings energy and laughter into every room and the kind of brother you can always count on.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>On Saturday, September 6th, 2025, Max’s life changed in an instant.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Just days after moving to Sydney, Australia, on a year-long work visa, Max went to the beach with friends. While wading through waist-deep water, he dove forward and unknowingly struck a hidden sandbar, fracturing his C5 vertebra.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thanks to a series of fast, life-saving actions, an off-duty lifeguard who rushed to his side, emergency responders just down the road, and the incredible trauma team at Royal North Shore Hospital—Max made it to surgery in time. During a six-hour operation, surgeons removed the fractured vertebra, performed a bone graft, and secured his neck with plates and screws.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>After surgery, Max was placed in the ICU, sedated and intubated, since the C5 nerves control breathing. In the days that followed, his diaphragm began to recover, and the breathing tube was removed. Today, Max is awake, alert, and beginning the long road to recovery.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Right now, Max has limited mobility in his limbs, and the future holds many unknowns. But if you know Max, you know his strength, stubborn determination, and big heart. Our family mantra has become: “<strong>Little victories lead to big victories.</strong>” Already, Max is working toward those victories every single day.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This accident has left us with a mountain of unexpected challenges. Donations will go directly toward:
</div>
<ul>
<li>International medical transport back to the U.S.
</li>
<li>International travel for family support
</li>
<li>Rehabilitation and physical therapy
</li>
<li>Home healthcare and medications
</li>
<li>Mobility and assistive equipment
</li>
<li>ADA home modifications
</li>
<li>Medical bills and international living expenses while Max recovers in Sydney
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are endlessly grateful to the friends who stepped in as family when we couldn’t be there yet—especially Ollie and Sofie Scott, the entire Scott family, and Matty Winston and his family—for being Max’s guardian angels during the scariest moments of our lives.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In an effort to maximize donations, we have partnered with Mayflower Congregational Church United Church of Christ in Englewood, CO, allowing donations to be tax-deductible. 100% of every gift will go directly toward Max’s care.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For those who want to follow Max’s journey, we’ve also created a <a href="https://www.caringbridge.org/site/5aabbcb4-8ea1-11f0-8d78-e946c6666d5e?utm_source=website_share&amp;utm_medium=share_button&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=link_share_button&amp;utm_campaign=private_home_page" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CaringBridge site</a> where we’ll share updates, stories, and the little victories that will carry him forward.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>No donation is too small, and every single share or message of support makes a difference. Max’s journey is just beginning, and with your love and generosity, we know brighter days are ahead.
</div>

Scott Lauer

Micah Zhao

John Roediger

Nick Mathers

Beau Holinger

Danny Enright

Anonymous

Juliaette Chamberlain

Paula Critchley

Cole Kubicek

Garrett Edwards

Andrew Fahrendorf

Kristin Struble

Support Max's Spinal Cord Recovery

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Support Max's Spinal Cord Recovery

Still $117,898 to go. Help us build momentum.