Help Mike with his medical expenses

8.8.23 Update:

Mike was discharged on 8.7.23. He should be having his heart surgery in 2 -3 weeks. Mike is the mend but has a long road ahead of him after surgery.

As many of you have heard Mike Schreck (Shrek) and Jan Martell were in a SBS accident on Saturday, July 29, 2023.

I am reaching out on Mike's (Shrek) behalf asking for donations to help with current and future medical expenses. Mike is always one of the first people to help support others, it's time we as a community do the same for Mike.

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much" ~ Helen Keller

Mike was airlifted to Mayo Hospital in Eau Claire. Mike sustained multiple injuries that include a fractured hip, a head laceration that required (# of staples), and two broken ribs which happens to be the 2nd rib out of 12 on the left and the right. These ribs are often called ‘true ribs’ because they are attached to the sternum (breastbone) by cartilage. The location of the broken ribs and where the break occurred resulted in a traumatic sternal injury as the sternum became fractured as well along with multiple torn cartilage and torn intercostal muscles (muscle in between the ribs). The blunt force trauma to the chest was more likely from the seat belt during the accident. Shortly after arrival at the hospital, Mike started experiencing chest pain. 12 lead EKG and lab tests were performed and appeared to be unremarkable. However, on Monday Mike continued to experience significant chest pain that warranted further evaluation along with an elevated troponin level (a level that tells if the heart had damage). On Tuesday, Mike had an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) that revealed significant regurgitation (where the valve doesn’t close tightly allowing the blood to flow backward) and further tests indicated that he also had an MI or heart attack. Later that evening telemetry (a device that continuously monitors the heart rhythm) revealed Mike going in and out of sustained VTACH (ventricular tachycardia) which does not allow the heart to circulate proper blood flow. As a result, Mike had an angiogram (which shows blood flow through the main arteries and veins of the heart) on Wednesday. The angiogram revealed that three of the coronary arteries had significant blockages that were not correctable with stenting (mesh coil used to help open up the blocked arteries) or angioplasty (balloon used to help stretch and open up the narrowing arteries). As a result, Mike will need to undergo a CABG x3 or Coronary artery bypass graft/triple bypass surgery. The cardiologist stated that the bypass would need to occur sooner than later but due to the chest trauma and injury to his sternum that this would complicate closure as they use sternotomy wires to close the sternum after open heart surgery. The blocked coronary arteries weren’t caused from the accident, but the trauma inflicted on the chest along with the stress on the heart is what triggered the MI there is a high chance that Mike would have had a massive heart attack in the future. Surgery will be scheduled in 2-3 weeks.

This will be a long recovery period while Mike waits for his body to heal enough so he can have his heart surgery.

If you are not able to donate, please share.