We Love Seth

On Wednesday,  October 17th  2018 Seth Oldham 20, of Stillman Valley, Illinois was involved in a tragic life altering motor vehicle accident with a semi where he was struck from the side.  He was flown by Lifeline to Saint Anthony's Hospital with severe life threatening injuries.  He has a broken pelvis, almost all of his ribs are broken and cracked. His spine also has tiny fractures all through it as well. His spleen had to be removed because it was so torn up. His liver had to be sewn up for the same reason. The hardest part has been the injuries Seth has sustained to his brain! When he first arrived he had severe swelling and bleeding in his brain and eventually had to have a  tube draining the fluids out of his head. An MRI has shown that Seth has rips & tears throughout his brain. Areas where parts of his brain have been torn from the other, and open 'pathways' in his brain as well.  The Doctors cant tell us when Seth will wake up, nor what to expect from his TBI. He may need to learn everything all over again. He may not remember who we, his family are. Nor his friends.   In the few weeks since his accident Seth has had multiple surgeries and way too many close calls when we weren't sure he would pull through. He has been in a coma since the accident. He has a trache and a feeding tube. He is also still on life support.   Just two days ago on Friday the November 2nd he was moved from St. Anthony's to a place called Kindred Hospital. It is more of a long term facility where we all are praying he will get the care and help he needs to heal and come back to us.  When a family member suggested we look at doing this fundraiser we weren't sure if it was appropriate or what it even was or how it worked. It seems strange to ask for help but we are going through a lot and the financial aspect has become a real concern. It is bad enough seeing our boy like this on a daily basis...not knowing when or if he will come back to us, but trying to scrape by with daily expenses not to mention the long road of recovery he has ahead of him is just unbearable sometimes. His medical care has already gone over a million dollars, and like I said his recovery has only just now began.  He is so young and has so much more life to live. He had just received his card for the carpenters union he just hadn't gotten the chance to start working yet due to this accident.  After spending 2 years learning his trade, he graduated.  During those 2 years, he  fought forest fires, and hurricane relief across the country with Job Corp.   Seth has always loved the outdoors, exploring nature & riding his BMX around...well wherever he was at the time. He especially loved taking it to skate parks. He got pretty good(at scaring us) and continued to ride even after breaking his wrist. He also has a true love of music, listening to anything from Pink Floyd to The Red Hot Chilli Peppers~~to Johnny Cash and Eminem, & Mac Miller. Mostly Seth  fiercely loves his family & friends. He would do ANYTHING for anyone whom he loves or cares for~he truly has a heart of gold!! He believes in honor & respect. In the last couple of years he discovered that he's got true talent in him while trying to design the artwork he wanted as tattoo's. He went from designing them to drawing them. The artwork he brought back from Blackwell(Job Corp) just earlier last month( Oct), blew us away. As a matter of fact, I loved one of his drawings so much, I asked him if I could wear it forever. Of course he agreed, & we were to get tattoo's together, but then....well, our plans were ripped away. So we'll have to rain check that date.   He was doing so well and just about to start a brand new chapter in his life...and its now all on hold, in a blink of an eye his life is forever changed. *HE WAS SO PROUD OF HIMSELF* And we are all so proud of him as well! He's come so far. We ache for him to wake up!!!  So what we ask is this~ if you are able to help us with a donation we would be more appreciative than we could ever put into words. If not, that's okay too, we just appreciate you taking the time to read Seth's story.