On Wednesday May 1 at 8:30 PM, Tate suffered a spinal cord injury at the gym doing what he loves most in the world - tumbling. He landed in the foam pit vertically on his head which resulted in a spinal shock. Early imaging showed no fracture or damage inside of the spinal column, which is good news. But the compression of his spine caused a hematoma and some torn ligaments in the surrounding tissues which in turn caused significant swelling.

Initially, after he was fished out of the foam pit, he had no feeling anywhere from the neck down. But 3-5 minutes later tingling and feeling began to return to his hands and feet - as well as pain. He was taken by ambulance to St. Joe's ER where feeling and movement continued to improve somewhat. It was determined that the best course of action would be to send him to the ICU at Harborview in Seattle to monitor his blood pressure and manage his pain.

As of this writing, it has been nearly 42 hours since the accident and movement in his extremities continues to improve slowly. Once the swelling subsides, we are hopeful that most of his mobility and sensation will begin to return.

His blood pressure continues to be at the level the doctors want which will aid his release from the ICU and into a rehab facility. It's too early to tell when that will be or where.

He is in relatively good spirits and knows his friends and family are continually sending encouraging texts, praying for him and checking in. We are setting up this GoFundMe to help with all of the costs associated with his current and future care in his recovery journey.

Tate has a challenging road of recovery in front of him. I think this new reality of physical and occupational therapy still has more questions than answers. But if you know Tate, you know he will give this new challenge his all. We are updating on CaringBridge as often as we have news to report.