Justin's Recovery

Update::
I want to thank everyone who has donated through this fundraiser and those who have reached out in other ways.. thank you for every single dollar sent, for your prayers, sharing the link, and the continued love and support.
Although Justin still has along road ahead he is working hard in daily therapy and making great progress .

The kindness and support the family has received has been incredible and we are truly grateful.

On October 3rd, 2019 Justin was in a very serious accident. He was struck by a tractor trailer on the highway. Justin sustained a lot of serious physical injuries. The physical injuries include a broken right scapula, broken ribs, broken transverse process, smashed pelvis, broken sacrum (base of spine), breaks to the bottom of the right fibula, multiple fractures in his left foot along with multiple cuts and wounds. The pelvic and sacrum injuries required a potentially life threatening surgery to repair. The majority of these injuries require time more than anything to heal. Nothing else can be done for them.

Justin also sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury, more specifically, a Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI). DAI is a form of traumatic brain injury. A DAI happens when the brain rapidly shifts inside the skull as an injury is occurring. The long connecting fibers in the brain called axons are sheared as the brain rapidly accelerates and decelerates inside the hard bone of the skull. DAI typically causes injury to many part of the brain, and people who suffer a DAI are usually left in a coma. There is no surgery available to people who have sustained a DAI. Justin was classified with a moderate brain injury with a GCS of 9*.

(*Traumatic brain injury is classified as mild, moderate, and severe based on Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). Traumatic brain injury patients with GCS of 13 to 15 are classified to be mild, which includes the majority of traumatic brain injury patients. Patients with a GCS of nine to 12 are considered to have a moderate traumatic brain injury, while patients with GCS below eight are classified as having a severe traumatic brain injury.)



Justin spent 10 days in a coma and on a ventilator in Holy Spirit’s ICU. After waking up, he was transferred to different levels of care before being moved to a brain injury certified long term rehabilitation center. He has started with therapies that will continue as long as necessary. He is non-mobile, non-weight bearing on the lower right side of his body and weight restricted on the upper right side of his body. He is dependent on the nursing staff for the majority of his needs at the moment. He is able to transfer to a wheel chair but requires assistance, and only for short periods of time. (Part of the recovery with the pelvic and sacrum injuries require Justin to have an External Fixator. This is a device screwed directly in to his pelvis to stabilize and position it for proper healing. He will have this device for 6-10 weeks. This makes a sitting position quite painful after some time.) His therapies at this time include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, recreational therapy, counseling, etc. There is a lot of rehab needed not just for the body injuries, but the brain as well. It will be a long time before Justin is able to function physically and mentally on his own.

When a person suffers an accident as severe as Justin did, it is hard on the person to accept what has happened to them and what their new future will look like. It is harder to accept that when the brain is injured well. Justin’s team of doctors and therapists have said it will take many months to a year before we will know what Justin’s new “baseline normal” will be as far as the recovery of the brain. As for the body, a lot of those injuries can take 3-6 months to heal. It is unknown at this time if Justin will walk on his own one day, or if he will require assistance through a walker or a permanent brace. Only time will tell.


Adjusting to all of this has been extremely challenging not only on Justin, but on our family as well. My time is very much split between the hospital and the kids right now. There are 2 children involved, Danielle is 14 and Jacob will be 8 on November 18th. They are both active in sports and extracirricular activities and it is important that their lives remain as normal as possible. Most days are long and it is sometimes 8 or 9pm before we are home. Home cooked meals are few and far between. CVMFA was so gracious in setting up a meal train, however that has come to an end. Aside from all of this, there is a financial struggle as well. With this accident, there is no income. Justin worked full time, often overtime, to provide for the family. He has been out of work for almost 6 weeks and he will not be cleared to work for a long time. There is also still the unknown as to whether or not Justin will even walk on his own again or if he will require assistance of some sort. I am taking care of our 2 children while also fully involved in Justin's recovery. 

With bills, every day expenses, kids, groceries, gas, and the holidays approaching – we are just getting by. Asking for help isn’t something that is coming easy, but it has come to a point where that is our only option. Justin was an extremely hard worker and this accident will take a big toll on the family in a lot of ways. We are asking that if you can help in any way, please do. There has been an application done for Justin for social security disability however the process for approval can take a long time. We are asking for some help to stay above water until the SSD process has been completed.

Justin is transferring to home and will continue with many hours of outpatient therapy every week. The traveling alone is a process and costly.

Thank you for all the continued love, prayers, and support.