Hi, my name is Lex and I am Pete's younger brother.

On the morning of January 7th, my brother Pete was in a horrible car accident in rural Idaho; a head-on collision at highway speeds. Pete is a physical therapist, graduating from the University of Minnesota's Physical Therapy program, and was on his way to work that day. First responders brought Pete to the very hospital at which he works, where his colleagues stabilized him and saved his life.

But he was very quickly air-lifted to a hospital in Coeur D'Alene due to the severe and extensive injuries. Pete suffered a broken femur in several locations, knee bones split into separate parts, a broken wrist, lacerations across his body, broken ribs, a broken nose, fractured orbitals, and suffered significant brain trauma.

As luck would have it, Pete's girlfriend's mother was visiting Coeur D'Alene at the time of the accident and was there as he was brought in on LifeFlight. At the hospital, Pete's girlfriend, Gaea, and her mom spent a frightful first few days as doctors performed several surgeries on Pete's broken body. All this time Pete had very little idea where he was or even knew he was injured. Soon thereafter Pete's dad, mom, good friend Will, and cousin Brady arrived from out of state to help Gaea and her mom.

Pete required 24-hour-a-day observation at the hospital in that first week and a half, since the knee surgery was delayed several days for swelling to go down. He would forget his leg was completely broken, struggle to get out of bed and wake up in the middle of the night completely lost and scared. His loved ones sat by his side through the night and day attempting to comfort him and aid his brain in recovery. At the worst points, they had to remind him over a dozen times an hour what had occurred to him. (Luckily, he also forgot how his Vikings did in the playoffs).

Pete spent over two weeks in the hospital. The staff there were incredible and took very good care of him. His first request when he recovered consciousness was for a donut. My wife and I arrived to help transfer and settle Pete to an in-patient rehab facility where he has received physical, occupational, and speech therapy.

Pete has a very challenging road ahead. It will be 2+ months before he can put weight on his leg, then more intense rehab, and the doctors estimate over a year of recovery time. The full extent of his brain trauma and injury will likely unfold over his lifetime. It is unclear to what extent and when Pete will be able to return to work as a physical therapist.

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We are creating this space for anyone who has the capacity and wishes to help Pete get back on his feet both literally and figuratively. While the full list of expenses will continue to unfold over the coming months we are starting with this best estimate of $88,000 to cover the following expenses.

- loss of income to pay for daily expenses

- out-of-pocket medical bills including hospital stay, medications, inpatient rehab, etc

- emergency medical airlift

- physical aids for each stage of healing (braces, unique walkers, home devices, etc)

- reserve funds for those "to be determined" instances and needs (doggie daycare for Mingus, travel funds for individuals to come give care, etc)

- a new car

We are trusting medical professionals to do their very best work in helping him on this scary, lengthy, and stressful journey and doing what we can from this side- collecting meaningful dollars…. So instead of him fretting about how to pay for groceries, gas, and rent without a paycheck (sounds dramatic but no less true) Pete can simply rest well and focus on regaining his mental and physical strength as quickly as possible.

All support will go directly to him, even a donation sufficient for him to get another post-op donut is appreciated.

Your energy, care, and support are a crucial part of rebuilding Pete’s life back up to its best and laughter-filled version. From the bottom of my heart and on my brother's behalf, thank you.