Bring Jemma Home!
Donation protected
To the friends of Jemma, Tom and Keira,
It is with very heavy hearts that we share our recent tragic news with you. While on a family vacation to Spain, on April 12, 2017, our sweet Jemma was involved in a tragic motor-scooter accident. We count our many blessings that Jemma survived the numerous potentially fatal injuries she suffered as a result of the accident, but sadly Jemma was paralyzed and has lost all sensation and mobility of her body below her chest.
Jemma is only 37-years-old and in the prime of her life. and she and her loving husband Tom have a beautiful 7-year-old daughter Keira. Tom and poor little Keira, safely aboard a second, separate scooter, witnessed the entire tragedy unfold in utter disbelief and shock as Jemma's body was thrown from the scooter, colliding with and"ragdolling" around a rigid and unmovable signpost. Jemma suffered severe thoracic trauma and head injuries, including collapsed lungs, traumatic brain injury and hematoma, numerous broken bones, including most unfortunately her thoracic vertebrae.
Tom still has nightmares seeing Jemma, his beautiful wife and mother to Keira, lying motionless on her back on the side of the road after ragdolling around the signpost. He has deep concerns about Keira’s fortitude to endure such a sight, her beautiful, shocked and sad eyes weeping, sobbing uncontrollably, repeating over and over, ‘Daddy, this is not happening.. I want to go home...I don't want to be in Spain. Please take me home. I don't want to be here. this didn't happen to mommy, mommy, mommy.....’”.
After several hours in the waiting room of the local Marbella Emergency Room, where Jemma initially was admitted, Tom received the scariest news a husband can fathom, that his wife likely would never walk again, assuming she survived the night. At 1:30 a.m. that night, April 13, 2017, Jemma was transfered via Ambulance to the renowned Carlos Hoya Hospital in Malaga, Spain, as available life flight helicopters do not fly in the dark, and a speedy admission to Carlos Hoya was deemed essential to her survival.
The highly competent Carlos Hoya team of neurosurgeons immediately performed surgery to abate the swelling around Jemma's severely damaged spinal cord (between the T-4 and T-7 vertebrae). Jemma then spent the following, excruciating 3 to 4 weeks in this foreign hospital, fully intubated to support her breathing mechanically, and frightened beyond words until finally she was deemed "stable."
When the professionals deemd Jemma sufficiently stable to fly home via private "Air ICU Ambulance" (ie., flying commercial would have required at least 3 months of rehabilitation in Malaga, Spain), her husband Tom made the necessary arrangements, regardless of the significant costs, and on May 3, Jemma finally arrived in San Diego where she was admitted to the ICU at Vibra Hospital in Hillcrest, surrounded by her loving family and friends.
THE CARLOS HOYA INITIAL REPORTS
Jemma spent approximately six weeks at Vibra Hospital in Hillcrest; and she was recently moved to Scripps, Encinitas nearby her family's home. Jemma is working tirelessly each day to adjust to her new way of living. She is in a significant amount of pain, yet her beautiful spirit shines bright with positivity despite the terrifying new reality that she cannot feel or move any part of her body below her chest.
She has a team of nurses helping her learn how to move herself in and out of her wheelchair, without the use of her torso or any core muscles whatsoever, and she is building up her upper body strength (above he chest line) one day at a time. She still cannot fully read due to the trauma to her brain, but she is improving a little each day. Tom is spending every free moment he can find to be in the hospital with his beloved wife Jemma, all the while learning how to be both father and mother to Keira at home. He has had to return to work full time and is working very hard. Keira is struggling to adjust to life without her mommy at home.
The Current Reality: Jemma is tough and tenacious; and progress is slowly being made, and Jemma is hoping to move back home within a few months, but there are many overwhelming preparations that need to happen for her to return. Adjustments will need to be made to their home to make room for her wheelchair: smaller furniture will need to be purchased, their house will need to be re-organized, construction will need to be done to cut back the doorways, a specific wheelchair will need to be purchased so that she can access her countertops and cupboards to cook meals, and a new car that can accommodate her disability will need to be purchased so that she can learn to drive Keira to school. Jemma will require full-time nursing assistance to adjust and attend to her new way of living, without the use or mobility of her body below her upper waist/lower chest. In addition, there are innumerable medical costs, and other sundries, like the "Air ICU Ambulance," for which insurance coverage is merely partial or wholly unavailable.
How You Can Help: The amount of emotional and financial stress the Frost family has had to incur is paramount. Their life as they know it has forever been changed and they need our help. Brian (Jemma’s brother-in-law), and myself, Lara (a close friend of Jemma’s), have put together this website to help the Frost family through this most difficult time. Any donation you are able to make to help support the Frosts, however big or small, will be so greatly appreciated. On behalf of Jemma, Tom and Keira, we send thanks for your love and support!
Updates & Information: For updates and photos of Jemma’s progress, we ask that you please communicate with Jemma and the Frosts through the Caringbridge website. Thank you!
CARINGBRIDGE LINK COMING SOON
It is with very heavy hearts that we share our recent tragic news with you. While on a family vacation to Spain, on April 12, 2017, our sweet Jemma was involved in a tragic motor-scooter accident. We count our many blessings that Jemma survived the numerous potentially fatal injuries she suffered as a result of the accident, but sadly Jemma was paralyzed and has lost all sensation and mobility of her body below her chest.
Jemma is only 37-years-old and in the prime of her life. and she and her loving husband Tom have a beautiful 7-year-old daughter Keira. Tom and poor little Keira, safely aboard a second, separate scooter, witnessed the entire tragedy unfold in utter disbelief and shock as Jemma's body was thrown from the scooter, colliding with and"ragdolling" around a rigid and unmovable signpost. Jemma suffered severe thoracic trauma and head injuries, including collapsed lungs, traumatic brain injury and hematoma, numerous broken bones, including most unfortunately her thoracic vertebrae.
Tom still has nightmares seeing Jemma, his beautiful wife and mother to Keira, lying motionless on her back on the side of the road after ragdolling around the signpost. He has deep concerns about Keira’s fortitude to endure such a sight, her beautiful, shocked and sad eyes weeping, sobbing uncontrollably, repeating over and over, ‘Daddy, this is not happening.. I want to go home...I don't want to be in Spain. Please take me home. I don't want to be here. this didn't happen to mommy, mommy, mommy.....’”.
After several hours in the waiting room of the local Marbella Emergency Room, where Jemma initially was admitted, Tom received the scariest news a husband can fathom, that his wife likely would never walk again, assuming she survived the night. At 1:30 a.m. that night, April 13, 2017, Jemma was transfered via Ambulance to the renowned Carlos Hoya Hospital in Malaga, Spain, as available life flight helicopters do not fly in the dark, and a speedy admission to Carlos Hoya was deemed essential to her survival.
The highly competent Carlos Hoya team of neurosurgeons immediately performed surgery to abate the swelling around Jemma's severely damaged spinal cord (between the T-4 and T-7 vertebrae). Jemma then spent the following, excruciating 3 to 4 weeks in this foreign hospital, fully intubated to support her breathing mechanically, and frightened beyond words until finally she was deemed "stable."
When the professionals deemd Jemma sufficiently stable to fly home via private "Air ICU Ambulance" (ie., flying commercial would have required at least 3 months of rehabilitation in Malaga, Spain), her husband Tom made the necessary arrangements, regardless of the significant costs, and on May 3, Jemma finally arrived in San Diego where she was admitted to the ICU at Vibra Hospital in Hillcrest, surrounded by her loving family and friends.
THE CARLOS HOYA INITIAL REPORTS
Jemma spent approximately six weeks at Vibra Hospital in Hillcrest; and she was recently moved to Scripps, Encinitas nearby her family's home. Jemma is working tirelessly each day to adjust to her new way of living. She is in a significant amount of pain, yet her beautiful spirit shines bright with positivity despite the terrifying new reality that she cannot feel or move any part of her body below her chest.
She has a team of nurses helping her learn how to move herself in and out of her wheelchair, without the use of her torso or any core muscles whatsoever, and she is building up her upper body strength (above he chest line) one day at a time. She still cannot fully read due to the trauma to her brain, but she is improving a little each day. Tom is spending every free moment he can find to be in the hospital with his beloved wife Jemma, all the while learning how to be both father and mother to Keira at home. He has had to return to work full time and is working very hard. Keira is struggling to adjust to life without her mommy at home.
The Current Reality: Jemma is tough and tenacious; and progress is slowly being made, and Jemma is hoping to move back home within a few months, but there are many overwhelming preparations that need to happen for her to return. Adjustments will need to be made to their home to make room for her wheelchair: smaller furniture will need to be purchased, their house will need to be re-organized, construction will need to be done to cut back the doorways, a specific wheelchair will need to be purchased so that she can access her countertops and cupboards to cook meals, and a new car that can accommodate her disability will need to be purchased so that she can learn to drive Keira to school. Jemma will require full-time nursing assistance to adjust and attend to her new way of living, without the use or mobility of her body below her upper waist/lower chest. In addition, there are innumerable medical costs, and other sundries, like the "Air ICU Ambulance," for which insurance coverage is merely partial or wholly unavailable.
How You Can Help: The amount of emotional and financial stress the Frost family has had to incur is paramount. Their life as they know it has forever been changed and they need our help. Brian (Jemma’s brother-in-law), and myself, Lara (a close friend of Jemma’s), have put together this website to help the Frost family through this most difficult time. Any donation you are able to make to help support the Frosts, however big or small, will be so greatly appreciated. On behalf of Jemma, Tom and Keira, we send thanks for your love and support!
Updates & Information: For updates and photos of Jemma’s progress, we ask that you please communicate with Jemma and the Frosts through the Caringbridge website. Thank you!
CARINGBRIDGE LINK COMING SOON
Organizer and beneficiary
Brian Frost
Organizer
Encinitas, CA
Thomas Frost
Beneficiary
