Vinny's Road to Recovery

On October 14, 2018, Meghan and Justin Lass found their almost 2 year old son, Vinny, unresponsive in his crib. He was taken to the ER and immediately transported by medivac to CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) where Vinny was diagnosed with a hemorrhagic stroke due to an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a congenital abnormality of the brain. He quickly had to undergo a lifesaving surgery for an external drain placement in his head to relieve pressure from the bleed, as well as placement of a central line to his heart to quickly administer medications. Over the course of 10 days, Vinny had countless tests, procedures, intubation and extubations- culminating in a surgery to remove the AVM from his brain on October 24.

After spending several weeks in the intensive care unit, Vinny was stable enough to begin inpatient rehab on November 2 at CHOP, one of the best rehabilitation children’s facilities in the nation. While he is in great hands with the medical staff, CHOP is located in center city, requiring Meghan and Justin to commute daily to be with him for his treatments. He currently has daily physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy and is making steady progress.

His parents and big sister, Reese, are excited to welcome Vinny back home when he is discharged from inpatient therapy. However, he will need to continue with outpatient rehab and numerous medical appointments for an undetermined amount of time.

The unfortunate reality is that Vinny has a lot to gain to return to his energetic, fun loving, rambunctious 2 year old self! Meghan is also pregnant and due with her 3rd child in early January of 2019. In the not so distant future, they will have 3 children under the age of 4, with one child requiring daily medical intervention, one child being a newborn, and another needing to maintain some form of normalcy for a 3 year old preschooler. They will be losing an income, as one parent must be available to stay home with the children during this difficult transition. Meghan has worked diligently to accrue enough paid time off so that she could stay home with her newborn for 12 weeks, but unfortunately she will have exhausted her PTO by the time the new baby arrives and the family will be without an income for a short period of time. 

We have created this GoFundMe to help offset expenses such as medical needs beyond insurance coverage, as well as supplementing the loss of income. 

Meghan and Justin truly appreciate your continued thoughtfulness and support during this challenging time for their family. They long for the days of routine work, school, and quality family time but have faith in God that those days will come.