Help Jason Get Home!
Donation protected
I remember a time in my life when I heard the phrase "Once a Marine, you're always a Marine," and I'm going to tell you a story about how my brother has showed us exactly what that phrase really means.
As many of you may know, my brother, Jason Flora, was in an accident in which he sustained 3rd and 4th degree burns over 50% of his body. This happened on October 29th, 2020. Jason was originally taken to UK, but was almost immediately transferred to University of Cincinnati Critical Care Burn Unit where he has fought for his life like no other.
When our family got the call from the hospital, his chances were slim to none. He has fought for 3mths with the strength, courage and bravery that most men aren't even lucky enough to possess. Now that's a Marine! The fact that he is still here is nothing less than a miracle. He's a living testimony that we truly serve an almighty God who is capable of the unimaginable!
Upon first evaluation, the doctors didn't expect Jason to make it through the night. We were devastated. When we sat down with the doctor's the next morning, they said that if they could just get him through the first 24hrs, there may be hope; and let me tell you, their faces said otherwise. We didn't see a ray of hope anywhere. Due to Covid, they sent everyone home and explained that he was allowed to have one visitor per day once his test results came back negative.
So....our family gathered around the waiting room, joined hands and our greatest prayer warrior, Aunt Trina, prayed for him. Given that we just lost our brother barely a year before Jason's accident, and our grandmother right after that, our family's hearts were hurting and we were yet again, devastated.
In the beginning, Jason had no skin above his knees on the front side of his body and the skin that WAS there, was burnt. He was on dialysis because his kidneys weren't working, as well as his liver. We were told he would probably loose both of his ears, and he did lose most of them. They had to resect part of his ribcage. He can't talk right now and will probably have permanent nerve damage in his left arm. I remember I finally got to see him 3 or 4 days after the accident and he was hooked up to 6 different giant bags of fluids that were all in his legs trying to replace everything he had lost. He was also hooked up to 6 other IV's (also in his legs) that were pumping antibiotics, and pain meds. He was on a ventilator and they had even placed a chest tube on his left side because his lung wasn't working. He had inhaled so much of the flames that his throat were severely damaged and his lungs sustained damage as well. He has gone 3mths now not being able to eat or drink.
It took 4wks just for them to have all the dead skin removed and be able to move forward with skin grafting. Once they were finally to a point for him to begin skin grafts, he developed sepsis and had to fight even harder.
The whole time its been 2 steps forward, one step back. Not to mention that physical therapy is just brutal on him. I dont know one person who's been in the room during a session and not have cried with him.
Luckily they were able to use 50% of his back side to graft from as well as donor skin grafts and covered all of his skinless areas. They finally took him off the ventilator and let him have ice chips, milkshakes and pudding after a barium swallow test. Unfortunately, they had to take them away 2 days later because his throat still wasn't healed enough and he was aspirating.
So here comes another one of those dreaded steps backwards... yet again. Jason got pneumonia from aspirating and had to be put back on a ventilator due to his heart rate dropping. The doctors have him on antibiotics and are hoping to have his lungs healed and ready to be moved to a rehabilitation center close to home in a few short weeks. This is our biggest goal right now.
Jason's mental health has been in a bad spot. He can only have one visitor a day, and has only been able to have visitors a few days a week because he is tested once a week for covid and results take 48-72hrs to come in. Not to mention he is 2hrs from home, so most visits dont get to last very long. He's lonley, depressed, and worried about what the future holds. He needs all the love, support and prayers he can get right now.
With that being said, Jason has nothing right now. After losing his apartment during his stay in Cincinnati, he lost all of his belongings as well. He has no clothes, no shoes, no phone, no home, no car, nothing. He doesn't even have the clothes on his back for those were burnt off his body before he arrived. Life is going to be very difficult for him over the next several months and he is going to need as much help as possible getting back on his feet.
Letters seem to have helped brighten his spirit being that he hasnt been able to seen many people and can't access social media. I highly encourage any and everyone who can, (even if you don't know him and just want to send encouragement) to write him a letter in your spare time. You can get them to me and I will be sure he receives them. They are highly appreciated!
To also help with raising money, our cousin, Leslie Turner and I have designed a T-shirt in honor of Jason. The shirts are $23 each and can be ordered through either of us directly, or her business page, 'Beauty From Ashes'. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to reach out to us.
As many of you may know, my brother, Jason Flora, was in an accident in which he sustained 3rd and 4th degree burns over 50% of his body. This happened on October 29th, 2020. Jason was originally taken to UK, but was almost immediately transferred to University of Cincinnati Critical Care Burn Unit where he has fought for his life like no other.
When our family got the call from the hospital, his chances were slim to none. He has fought for 3mths with the strength, courage and bravery that most men aren't even lucky enough to possess. Now that's a Marine! The fact that he is still here is nothing less than a miracle. He's a living testimony that we truly serve an almighty God who is capable of the unimaginable!
Upon first evaluation, the doctors didn't expect Jason to make it through the night. We were devastated. When we sat down with the doctor's the next morning, they said that if they could just get him through the first 24hrs, there may be hope; and let me tell you, their faces said otherwise. We didn't see a ray of hope anywhere. Due to Covid, they sent everyone home and explained that he was allowed to have one visitor per day once his test results came back negative.
So....our family gathered around the waiting room, joined hands and our greatest prayer warrior, Aunt Trina, prayed for him. Given that we just lost our brother barely a year before Jason's accident, and our grandmother right after that, our family's hearts were hurting and we were yet again, devastated.
In the beginning, Jason had no skin above his knees on the front side of his body and the skin that WAS there, was burnt. He was on dialysis because his kidneys weren't working, as well as his liver. We were told he would probably loose both of his ears, and he did lose most of them. They had to resect part of his ribcage. He can't talk right now and will probably have permanent nerve damage in his left arm. I remember I finally got to see him 3 or 4 days after the accident and he was hooked up to 6 different giant bags of fluids that were all in his legs trying to replace everything he had lost. He was also hooked up to 6 other IV's (also in his legs) that were pumping antibiotics, and pain meds. He was on a ventilator and they had even placed a chest tube on his left side because his lung wasn't working. He had inhaled so much of the flames that his throat were severely damaged and his lungs sustained damage as well. He has gone 3mths now not being able to eat or drink.
It took 4wks just for them to have all the dead skin removed and be able to move forward with skin grafting. Once they were finally to a point for him to begin skin grafts, he developed sepsis and had to fight even harder.
The whole time its been 2 steps forward, one step back. Not to mention that physical therapy is just brutal on him. I dont know one person who's been in the room during a session and not have cried with him.
Luckily they were able to use 50% of his back side to graft from as well as donor skin grafts and covered all of his skinless areas. They finally took him off the ventilator and let him have ice chips, milkshakes and pudding after a barium swallow test. Unfortunately, they had to take them away 2 days later because his throat still wasn't healed enough and he was aspirating.
So here comes another one of those dreaded steps backwards... yet again. Jason got pneumonia from aspirating and had to be put back on a ventilator due to his heart rate dropping. The doctors have him on antibiotics and are hoping to have his lungs healed and ready to be moved to a rehabilitation center close to home in a few short weeks. This is our biggest goal right now.
Jason's mental health has been in a bad spot. He can only have one visitor a day, and has only been able to have visitors a few days a week because he is tested once a week for covid and results take 48-72hrs to come in. Not to mention he is 2hrs from home, so most visits dont get to last very long. He's lonley, depressed, and worried about what the future holds. He needs all the love, support and prayers he can get right now.
With that being said, Jason has nothing right now. After losing his apartment during his stay in Cincinnati, he lost all of his belongings as well. He has no clothes, no shoes, no phone, no home, no car, nothing. He doesn't even have the clothes on his back for those were burnt off his body before he arrived. Life is going to be very difficult for him over the next several months and he is going to need as much help as possible getting back on his feet.
Letters seem to have helped brighten his spirit being that he hasnt been able to seen many people and can't access social media. I highly encourage any and everyone who can, (even if you don't know him and just want to send encouragement) to write him a letter in your spare time. You can get them to me and I will be sure he receives them. They are highly appreciated!
To also help with raising money, our cousin, Leslie Turner and I have designed a T-shirt in honor of Jason. The shirts are $23 each and can be ordered through either of us directly, or her business page, 'Beauty From Ashes'. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to reach out to us.
Organizer and beneficiary
Monica Flora
Organizer
Lawrenceburg, KY
Jason Flora
Beneficiary