Medical Emergency, Causing Paralysis, Jake L Kranz

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Jake, God is with you my son and brother. 

On June 25, 2023, Jake was severely injured while fishing on his Vessel, New Hope. Jake was doing maintenance in the engine room and was near the 4" diameter propeller drive shaft. His tee shirt got caught in the drive shaft and pulled him into it with great force and his neck and back were severely damaged. Jakes deck hand Clinton saw that he was severely injured and immediately called the Sitka Coast Guard  and they arrived promptly. He was taken to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium ( SEARHC) Hospital. While there, the team of doctors made the decision to life flight Jake to Seattle and transported him to Harborview Medical Center where he remains in critical condition. 

    We are not certain of the time frame, but Jake suffered a stroke that cut off the oxygen supply to the left side of his brain resulting in severe brain damage. As a result, Jake is now suffering Paralysis on the right side of his body. In addition he cannot speak at this time. He had brain surgery and they removed a large part of his skull. They have yet to re-attach it until his team of nurses and physicians are certain the swelling has gone down.  

    We knew he was in there when we looked into his eyes.  To date, Jake has had 8 surgeries with more to come. It's still to early to tell what the long term results will be. Jake is fighting for his life. All the prayers from family friends and strangers have resulted in his survival and at this time he can understand discussions with us and from his team of physicians and answers by nodding his head which is miraculous, and a gift from God.

    Jake has been a fisherman in South East Alaska for ten years.  His passion for his boat and the the sea is well known to our family and throughout the community of Sitka, Alaska.  However his love and passion for his young family comes first.  His beautiful wife Mia and son Mason are the Joy of his life  with a baby on the way. Your love and prayers are needed, and we thank you in advance. 

    We will keep everyone updated on his progress through this Gofundme site consistantly.  Jake's wife and children have already received support from donations that resulted in $24,010.  Our goal is $100,000 so as to help our family long term which will be necessary to pay for an apartment, transportation, medical, handicap accessible housing and bills such as payments to keep and maintain his vessel, New Hope. It is imperative that we support Jake with our presence physically and in the eyes of his physicians, family, friends and compassionate strangers whom have donated our support for Jake spiritually and emotionally is exstreamly important as well.      We have left our jobs to be here for Jake. Until we can find gainful employment,  we are hoping to reach our goal. The most important aspect is sharing this goal with friends, family, and and anyone you know to help us reach our goal of $100,000. With donations received to date we are hoping for help with the additional $75,990 to continue to cover costs indured from Jake's accident. 

    We are not asking current donors to contribute more than you already have. We are asking to share this message on Jake's behalf and that of our family. Please share our message with conviction and ask anyone you share with to do the same in order for us to reach our goals for Jake's benefit.  Jake is as precious to us as any other child is to a parent! He is the joy in all of our lives. 

    We are genuinely grateful for your contributions to date and our love and prayers are with you and your family as well. Thank you from the depths of our hearts. 

Jake will survive because that's who he is, a surviver. He is the love of our lives. We are planning on Jake walking and speaking again one day, but not yet.

God bless you and your families as you have  blessed us.