On Sunday, March 22, my 15-year old cousin Wesley Freeman suffered an ultra-rare spinal stroke while practicing golf. The stroke affected the C1-T7 vertebrae, and he is paralyzed from the upper chest down. He has no movement in any of his limbs, and is currently intubated with the vent breathing for him in the ICU at Lurie’s Children’s Hospital in Chicago.

Wes is a sophomore at Wheaton North High School and member of the golf team. A typical teenage boy getting ready to start driving this summer and prepping for college visits next year. There was zero indication that this stroke was going to occur, and the doctors at Lurie’s are still trying to figure out why this happened so they can stabilize him and prevent another one from happening.

The Freeman Family has resided in Wheaton for 20 years. Wes and his sister, Claire, are Longfellow Elementary alumni and Wes’s mom, Rosemarie, is well known for her residential landscape design work around town. The future is uncertain at this time, but we know that Wes will be at Lurie’s for a long time before transferring to Shirley Ryan for intensive rehabilitation. The Freemans are on the waitlist to move into the Ronald McDonald House so they can be close to Wes during this long road.

Your support and prayers mean the world to the Freemans. Any contribution will go to the family for Wes’s rehabilitation and care moving forward.