On January 8, 2020, my father and role model John Tharp was up early to make final preparations for a once-in-a-lifetime 2-week vacation to Hawaii to relax and spend time with his family. John retired from Boeing after 37 years of loyalty to the company in 2016 and spent the last four years researching and planning the ultimate family dream vacation.
After showering and dressing, John began to descend the stairs leading from the second floor to the first floor when he somehow, someway lost his footing and careened headlong down the flight of stairs. In that moment, John suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury to his neck, and he stopped breathing.
My mother and hero Catherine recognized the severity of this life-threatening emergency situation and leapt into action. She immediately called for an ambulance and performed CPR until the paramedics arrived—keeping the lifesaving blood and oxygen flowing to John’s brain. Once admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, surgeons operated on John’s neck and vertebrae. They put screws in two of John’s cervical vertebrae to pull them away from the spinal cord, giving the spinal cord room to swell and heal.
After 10 days in the ICU, John was on the road to recovery. On the 11th day, he was discharged from the ICU and transported to a rehab hospital where he has received physical, occupational, and speech therapy daily. Nearly completely paralyzed from the neck-down, John has demonstrated grit and determination everyday as he tirelessly works toward regaining mobility in his arms and legs. He has strengthened those parts of his body in which he has regained sensation—now using his left arm to steer his wheelchair.
On March 13, 2020, John will finally be able to come home to his family and his dog Alaska. While this is without a doubt an exciting time that John and the Tharp Family have been working toward for months, it is also a precarious and stressful time in which the home needs to be reconfigured for someone to live with a traumatic spinal cord injury and paralysis. These adjustments require immense resources. For starters, this includes fitting the home with an entry and exit ramp for John; but this also includes more costly arrangements like permanent home healthcare workers to help my father during his long-term recovery.
Please consider helping the one person I know who never turned his back on anyone. By helping John, you are also helping John’s family—the Tharp Family. We cannot do this without your compassionate help. John’s one true joy in life is walking his dog. I know with hard work and perseverance, my father will one day walk his dog Alaska again. I want to give that to my father, and I am asking for your support.
After showering and dressing, John began to descend the stairs leading from the second floor to the first floor when he somehow, someway lost his footing and careened headlong down the flight of stairs. In that moment, John suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury to his neck, and he stopped breathing.
My mother and hero Catherine recognized the severity of this life-threatening emergency situation and leapt into action. She immediately called for an ambulance and performed CPR until the paramedics arrived—keeping the lifesaving blood and oxygen flowing to John’s brain. Once admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, surgeons operated on John’s neck and vertebrae. They put screws in two of John’s cervical vertebrae to pull them away from the spinal cord, giving the spinal cord room to swell and heal.
After 10 days in the ICU, John was on the road to recovery. On the 11th day, he was discharged from the ICU and transported to a rehab hospital where he has received physical, occupational, and speech therapy daily. Nearly completely paralyzed from the neck-down, John has demonstrated grit and determination everyday as he tirelessly works toward regaining mobility in his arms and legs. He has strengthened those parts of his body in which he has regained sensation—now using his left arm to steer his wheelchair.
On March 13, 2020, John will finally be able to come home to his family and his dog Alaska. While this is without a doubt an exciting time that John and the Tharp Family have been working toward for months, it is also a precarious and stressful time in which the home needs to be reconfigured for someone to live with a traumatic spinal cord injury and paralysis. These adjustments require immense resources. For starters, this includes fitting the home with an entry and exit ramp for John; but this also includes more costly arrangements like permanent home healthcare workers to help my father during his long-term recovery.
Please consider helping the one person I know who never turned his back on anyone. By helping John, you are also helping John’s family—the Tharp Family. We cannot do this without your compassionate help. John’s one true joy in life is walking his dog. I know with hard work and perseverance, my father will one day walk his dog Alaska again. I want to give that to my father, and I am asking for your support.