Help Jen get to a Healthier Place
Donation protected
My name is Jay Fredrick, and the photo you see is my miracle wife of 25-1/2 years, Jennifer. Jennifer was on her way to take care of her mother, who lives in Kansas and had suffered several TIA strokes, complete with memory loss. Jenifer left our house the morning of December 26, and while there were no wind advisories posted, they had clocked winds at over 70mph. She had just gotten to the Limon cut off and was driving EB on I-70 when a huge gust of wind hit her brand new car (that she was so proud of) with such brute force that it sucked her completely across the opposite side of I-70 and rendered her unconscious as her air bags deployed instantaneously. As she shot across the highway, her car hit a culvert and went over 200 feet straight UP into the air and the the downdraft landed her straight down (200') in a farmer's cornfield. When she awoke, 911 dispatch was talking to her; her new car was equipped with a technology package, so that saved her life. It was 9 degrees that morning, with a wind chill of -5 degrees, and the field she landed was not visible from the highway.
She first was rushed to Hugo Hospital to be stabilized and also to determine the extent of her injuries, which were unknown. They diagnosed her with an L1 Compression Fracture and referred her to Swedish Medical. They had a call in to Life Flight her, due to the extent and severities of her injuries; however the winds were too severe to get a chopper safely off the ground. Jennifer was therefore sent by ambulance from Hugo Hospital to Swedish Trauma for Emergency Surgery.
The surgery itself lasted over 8 hours, and after Jennifer came out of surgery, the Neurosurgeon pulled me aside and explained to me just how close I came to losing Jennifer. "Your wife's fracture was very close", he said. "Two centimeters more on either side of her spinal cord, and she would be either paralyzed or dead". The surgeon explained what he had done during the 8+ hour surgery. Jennifer had been retro-fitted with a 12" titanium rod and 18 matching screws. He went on to tell me that Jennifer had most definitely had someone watching over her that morning. I was allowed to see her as soon as she awoke, and she spent 6 days in the hospital; the first four of those re-learning how to walk again. It was devastating for me to watch my wife go through all that pain, but I just kept telling myself, "she's alive, Jay--she's ALIVE Jay!!"
Now she's doing better, but this was an insanely expensive surgery. We do have health insurance, but the remaining is what we still owe to Swedish. Being self-employed doesn't always equate to being loaded. And the hospital wants their money ASAP, naturally. Jennifer is unable to work at this time, due to a complication that could prove to be fatal. Because of this, we have started to pull together our wills and revisit our life insurance policies.
If you choose to help us by donating to Jennifer's medical overflow for Swedish, words cannot begin to express just how much this would mean to me. Neither Jennifer or myself are in the habit of asking for handouts, but we have such wonderful friends and family that I thought this would be a way to ask without "guilting" anyone.
Thank you again for your help and your friendship.
Jay & Jennifer
She first was rushed to Hugo Hospital to be stabilized and also to determine the extent of her injuries, which were unknown. They diagnosed her with an L1 Compression Fracture and referred her to Swedish Medical. They had a call in to Life Flight her, due to the extent and severities of her injuries; however the winds were too severe to get a chopper safely off the ground. Jennifer was therefore sent by ambulance from Hugo Hospital to Swedish Trauma for Emergency Surgery.
The surgery itself lasted over 8 hours, and after Jennifer came out of surgery, the Neurosurgeon pulled me aside and explained to me just how close I came to losing Jennifer. "Your wife's fracture was very close", he said. "Two centimeters more on either side of her spinal cord, and she would be either paralyzed or dead". The surgeon explained what he had done during the 8+ hour surgery. Jennifer had been retro-fitted with a 12" titanium rod and 18 matching screws. He went on to tell me that Jennifer had most definitely had someone watching over her that morning. I was allowed to see her as soon as she awoke, and she spent 6 days in the hospital; the first four of those re-learning how to walk again. It was devastating for me to watch my wife go through all that pain, but I just kept telling myself, "she's alive, Jay--she's ALIVE Jay!!"
Now she's doing better, but this was an insanely expensive surgery. We do have health insurance, but the remaining is what we still owe to Swedish. Being self-employed doesn't always equate to being loaded. And the hospital wants their money ASAP, naturally. Jennifer is unable to work at this time, due to a complication that could prove to be fatal. Because of this, we have started to pull together our wills and revisit our life insurance policies.
If you choose to help us by donating to Jennifer's medical overflow for Swedish, words cannot begin to express just how much this would mean to me. Neither Jennifer or myself are in the habit of asking for handouts, but we have such wonderful friends and family that I thought this would be a way to ask without "guilting" anyone.
Thank you again for your help and your friendship.
Jay & Jennifer
Organizer
Jennifer Fredrick
Organizer
Cañon City, CO