Brendan Shea’s Spinal Cord Injury Recovery

Team fundraiser

Joseph Shea and Kathleen O'Shea are organizing this fundraiser.

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Brendan survived a severe Spinal Cord Injury that has forever changed the original plans that he had for his life.

We are raising money to cover the enormous expenses that he along with his family must continue to make for his recovery and physical rehabilitation to get better.
Please follow his Facebook group for updates:
Brendan Shea’s Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Facebook Page

Brendan was a student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell at the time that he got hurt, just beginning his master’s degree, while at the same time finishing the last couple classes for his bachelor’s degree. He started his own small business over the summer to save money to study abroad to learn languages, finishing off the very last classes that he needed to complete his undergraduate degree while he was starting his graduate degree at the same time.

Brendan is working hard to create the kind of future and the kind of life that he had always planned for himself. However, this is an extremely difficult situation after surviving such a significant injury and dealing with such significant medical complications.

Brendan was roughly 30-40 feet high up in a tree, cutting the top of the tree off when his rope and harness system failed, and he fell down to the grass below. Brendan was rushed to the hospital on the afternoon of July 8th, 2017, where doctors diagnosed him with a spinal cord injury at roughly the C4/C5 level. He underwent surgery that day and spent roughly the next 7 months in different hospitals fighting hard to get better.

It was difficult for us to create a crowdfunding account immediately after he got hurt. Our family felt unsure about reaching out to others for help. For some reason, it just felt wrong to reach out like this to ask people for help, however after a long time of fighting through this on our own, and a lot of complications, we decided that we needed to reach out to you to humbly ask for your generosity.
Brendan is still experiencing significant symptoms of paralysis below the shoulders, with only limited use of his arms right now. He has made a significant recovery since the first days waking up after surgery following the accident, however he still has a very long way to go in order to recover.

This accident occurred while Brendan was pursuing different dreams that he has always had for himself. Brendan has always loved working hard and using his hands to create things, and he created a plan to use these skills to pursue his future goals. Brendan was about to graduate with his undergraduate degree, double majoring in History & Psychology, while simultaneously beginning his master’s degree in Security Studies that summer, focusing in International Security policy. He created this plan to work over the summer to save up money to study abroad that upcoming fall & spring, to study Arabic for the next whole year as part of his plan to be become more skilled so that he could serve his country honorably after graduation one day. This injury has cause him to have to change his plans, to create a new one factoring this obstacle into the new plan.

Brendan's heart stopped twice in the hospital, once during surgery and once shortly afterwards. When he woke up, he could not move at all. He could not eat, drink, speak and he could not even breathe on his own. For months, he had a ventilator tube implanted in his throat to help him breathe, a feeding tube in his stomach, and multiple other tubes all implanted in his body to keep him alive. He has made significant progress since that time, he is working hard through specialized physical therapy to be able to regain the use of his arms and legs, however he has a very difficult journey before him.

With the help of your prayers, our hope is for Brendan to be able to continue working hard through specialized spinal cord injury rehabilitation to be able to regain his health and save his life, so that he can live the kind of life that he had been working so hard to achieve for himself.

We are grateful and blessed that he is still here with us and are asking for your generosity in raising money to cover the enormous expenses that he along with his family must continue to make. These costs include him navigate his life in a specialized wheelchair while he fights to get back on his feet, exercise and physical therapy, rehabilitation equipment and home modifications, medical expenses, travel expenses, caregivers and more. As Brendan continues to navigate his way to fighting to reclaim his life back and as his situation develops, we know that he is going to encounter more unforeseen needs and expenses.

Brendan is part of a strong family; he is the oldest of three children. Because he is the oldest, he feels like he has a lot of responsibility, and a lot of weight on his shoulders to succeed for his family. We are a close family and will continue to rally every day to support him through these challenging times. We have been grateful and blessed to have some family and friends helps some along the way. The reality and severity of Brendan’s injuries will mean that financial support is the most effective way that you can help out. On behalf of our family and Brendan, we THANK YOU for your prayers, your help, your generosity and support through this challenging time. Any donation will make a difference in Brendan’s journey to find a way to reclaim his life and his future.