Traumatic Brain Injury: Jacob's motorcycle crash

As many of you know, my grandson, Jacob, 20 years old, was in a devastating motorcycle accident back on February 3rd, 2024. If you are not familiar with Jake’s short, you can search GoFundMe accounts using “Help Jacob recover from motorcycle accident”. My daughter, Jacob’s mother, posted updates on Jake’s condition on Instagram, FaceBook, and SnapChat. God was so good to Jake! His broken nose is hardly noticeable, his orbital fracture healed itself, the pnuemo-thorax reinflated without incident, his open-book pelvic break is healing as it should (Jake will finally be cleared to bear weight on his legs on 5/23 and he is so very excited at the prospect of getting out of his wheelchair), his right hand fracture is still splinted (but improving), his thoracic fusion (a metal rod and screws) has left his back hypersensitive and tender but mostly healed internally, and the two burst disks are still unaddressed but the doctor wants to wait and see if they will cause problems as Jacob nears a more complete recovery. That leaves the worst of Jake’s injuries – his traumatic brain injury. (TBI)

Obviously, this situation has been physically, emotionally, and financially stressful for Jake and his family of caregivers. Jacob’s COBRA premium for health insurance is 732.00 each month. Without that being paid, he would not receive the services he needs. With just four bills received so far, Jacob owes $34,000. His four week hospitalization in the Trauma ICU will certainly exceed a million dollars, not including his five weeks of TBI therapy in Jacksonville, FL. Unfortunately, the driver who caused the crash has the bare minimum insurance, and that $10K of PIP will be used to give nominal payments to his countless providers. There is no other financial resource to help out.

My daughter is on disability, having hurt her back at her job as a COTA, and I was terminated from my job because I stayed in Jacksonville to help with Jacob’s care. But we are only half-way through Jacob’s recovery; the most needed therapy is yet to come. On May 27th, we will be traveling to Jacksonville again for Jacob to receive intense therapy for his TBI. This day program runs from 9-3, M-F, and focuses on brain rehabilitation. There, Jacob will relearn to walk, engage in community projects, work on memory deficits, improve cognition/thought processes/communication, recondition his weakened body, do OT, PT, speech and talk therapy, and train his brain to revert back to where he was before the accident.

We are excited for Jacob because he is so excited about getting back to being as “normal” as possible. He has been working very diligently at home and is in such a place that the doctors feel he will make an overall remarkable recovery when he finishes this renown program. God has blessed Jacob and us so, so much. He has restored him remarkably – we are just going to do some fine tuning with this rehab program that God placed in Jake’s path, along with phenomenal doctors and therapists. We will forever be grateful for the healing He has orchestrated.

The difficult component here is the financial cost to reach the finish line. Jacob will be in the program for eight weeks – it is not a live-in setting. We received a special rate authorized by Brooks Rehab, but the cost for our one room (sleeps 3) with a kitchen (to save money, we will cook) is $5720.40. Yet my daughter still has to pay her mortgage, normal monthly expenses, utilities, and Jacob’s COBRA premium. I hate to set up another GoFundMe, but I don’t see how we can manage without your help. Jake is so young yet; God has given him a second chance at a productive and fulfilling life. He certainly has a testimony to share; he knows that God spared him for a reason.

Your contributions, no matter the amount, will help us make the most of this last recovery stage for Jacob. He will be working a grueling schedule of work, therapies, and activities. He can then return “home” to the hotel for a home-cooked meal and some needed rest. Again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help back in February. If you can, please consider helping us to help Jacob. If you are unable to contribute, if you could send prayers and repost this GoFundMe, that would be greatly appreciated as well.