hi, I'm Susan, and here is my story....

Just recently, my husband was involved in a terrible motorcycle accident that left him with life-threatening injuries. He is now in critical condition at UVA Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia. Among his many injuries are 14 broken ribs, fractures in both shoulder blades, spinal fractures at L4, L5, and C5, a lacerated spleen, a concussion, and collapsed lungs.

His doctors are doing everything they can, but the road to recovery is going to be long, painful, and uncertain. Right now, every moment i can be there is critical to his recovery. As and update, his niece posted this, and in an effort to save time- I have just copied what she wrote-

My Uncle Tommy (Tom Harbison) had a motorcycle accident Thursday, June 19th. He was med flighted to UVA where he has remained in their Trauma ICU. He has significant chest/lung injuries. Currently he is still requiring breathing support and underwent a bronchscopy yesterday where they were able to clear some of the mucus and old blood (junk) out of his lungs. After the bronchscopy his oxygen requirment has decreased a little. I’m hopeful he will continue to decline in his oxygen needs today.

Continue praying for him and his family please. Today makes 12 days since his accident and 8 days post emergency surgery and 8 days on the ventilator.

I’m sharing Susan’s Venmo account. She has been driving back and forth to UVA some days and staying in hotels near the hospital other days. She could use the extra support. If you can spare, please consider. Her Venmo is @SuzHarbison1.

And since then The road has been very bumpy for him. There have been many ups and downs setbacks as of now he is still on the ventilator and that is day 14 I think, he won't be able to remain on that much longer. They have talked about many things ECMO being one of them, And simply put things are very uncertain we are hopeful but that doesn't promise anything.

Our home is far from the hospital, and i simply can’t make the drive back and forth each day. And when I come alone, it leaves our daughter and border Collie home alone. Milo is already very aware that something is definitely not right. To leave him alone would be detrimental. We’re doing all we can to stay nearby, but hotel costs are adding up fast. Depending on how his recovery progresses, we may be coming up here for a while. This week will be week 4. My schedule is basically Tuesday through Friday in Charlottesville and I've gotten it to where I can get a hotel for less than $300 when I do that. For those who want to ask yes there is a hospitality house, But I cannot park there I'd have to shuttle, it is not in a great area of town and I don't feel safe, amongst other things. So any help they can be sent my way it would be extremely appreciated. Once disability kicks in from work and supplemental insurance is kick in and stuff like that it won't be as bad but right now I'm kind of in the middle of everything and money is scarce.

I’m humbly asking for help to cover the cost of lodging so we can remain close to him during this critical time. Whether it’s $5 or simply sharing this page, every bit of support matters and makes it possible for us to focus on what’s most important: being there for Tommy.

Thank you for reading, sharing, and supporting us in this difficult chapter. I’ll post updates as we know more, and know, your kindness means more than I can say.

With deep gratitude,

Susan Harbison