Team Behm
Donation protected
Greetings everyone,
I’d like to share the story about what is happening to my colleague and friend, Mr. Justin Behm. Justin is a husband and father of 3 children: a 15-year-old son, and 4 year old twins. He has been a physical education teacher at Westside Elementary for over 11 years, and coached high school football for the Moorhead Spuds for 10 years. He has had a positive impact on several hundred elementary and high school aged kids. To say he is a pillar of our school, the Moorhead High School Football team, and community is an understatement.
Here is a description by his wife Katina, of what Justin has endured.
“Justin noticed hearing loss in August 2019. He had an MRI in May 2020 that revealed a benign but very large brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma. On July 9th, he had surgery to remove it. Unfortunately, during the procedure his facial nerve was damaged before they could remove the tumor. The team chose to close him up and try again later, giving the nerve time to heal. The nerve never recovered, and Justin has had complete facial paralysis and total hearing loss on his right side since then. The hearing loss we knew was inevitable, however, losing his ability to blink his eye, drink from a cup and smile was an unexpected result considering none of the tumor was removed.
We regrouped, found a team in San Diego that performs this surgery weekly, and scheduled "round 2" for October 16th. The goal is to remove the tumor and repair his facial nerve. “
Thankfully, they were able to remove 100% of the tumor and repair the damaged facial nerve, and the success of this surgery will hopefully be seen over the next months to years. Unfortunately, the 2-3 day hospital stay that was planned, turned into 4 weeks and counting, due to several painful setbacks.
Justin and his family have a long road to recovery coupled with an unknown financial strain. If you know Justin, you know he would not ask for help, but I would like to take this opportunity to ask for them. Please join me in helping a fantastic family that got dealt an awful hand. The quicker we can get Mr. Behm back into the gym and “Boomer” back on the field the better. Thank you.
I’d like to share the story about what is happening to my colleague and friend, Mr. Justin Behm. Justin is a husband and father of 3 children: a 15-year-old son, and 4 year old twins. He has been a physical education teacher at Westside Elementary for over 11 years, and coached high school football for the Moorhead Spuds for 10 years. He has had a positive impact on several hundred elementary and high school aged kids. To say he is a pillar of our school, the Moorhead High School Football team, and community is an understatement.
Here is a description by his wife Katina, of what Justin has endured.
“Justin noticed hearing loss in August 2019. He had an MRI in May 2020 that revealed a benign but very large brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma. On July 9th, he had surgery to remove it. Unfortunately, during the procedure his facial nerve was damaged before they could remove the tumor. The team chose to close him up and try again later, giving the nerve time to heal. The nerve never recovered, and Justin has had complete facial paralysis and total hearing loss on his right side since then. The hearing loss we knew was inevitable, however, losing his ability to blink his eye, drink from a cup and smile was an unexpected result considering none of the tumor was removed.
We regrouped, found a team in San Diego that performs this surgery weekly, and scheduled "round 2" for October 16th. The goal is to remove the tumor and repair his facial nerve. “
Thankfully, they were able to remove 100% of the tumor and repair the damaged facial nerve, and the success of this surgery will hopefully be seen over the next months to years. Unfortunately, the 2-3 day hospital stay that was planned, turned into 4 weeks and counting, due to several painful setbacks.
Justin and his family have a long road to recovery coupled with an unknown financial strain. If you know Justin, you know he would not ask for help, but I would like to take this opportunity to ask for them. Please join me in helping a fantastic family that got dealt an awful hand. The quicker we can get Mr. Behm back into the gym and “Boomer” back on the field the better. Thank you.
Organizer and beneficiary
Dan Ray
Organizer
West Fargo, ND
Justin Behm
Beneficiary
