Brandon is healing and still needs your help!

My name is Lee, aka Mom of many. My 35-year-old son Brandon's broken body is lying in a Boston hospital bed after a near-fatal car accident on Feb 7, 2024. As Brandon is a disabled veteran of the US Marine Corp, he is now under the care of the Veteran's Administration at their facility in Boston. He is truly blessed that his internal organs are intact and functioning and that he is finally beginning to heal.

Due to the critical nature of his injuries, he was med-flight ambulanced from St Croix to Miami (where he knows no one) and he spent two weeks at the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital followed by another week at the Bruce W Carter VA Hospital. He has already had over 15 hours of multiple major surgical procedures and is thanking God he is alive and healing!

His major injuries include:

Last Friday, the doctors determined Brandon was finally strong enough to manage the 3+ hour flight and we were able to bring him to Boston, as he has family in the area who can participate in providing the many layers of support and company he'll need in the coming months.

Brandon will be wheelchair bound for at least several more weeks (to months) as his knee, foot and shoulder injuries are 'non-weight bearing' and he will be unable to return to work for months to come. He is currently still in the hospital and beginning physical therapy to keep his body moving while he awaits the healing of his bones. He'll stay inpatient for his physical rehabilitation, hopefully moving to a nursing home as he gets stronger.

Brandon was whisked suddenly and unexpectedly from his tropical island life and is now plunked into the New England late winter. He needs to purchase some appropriate winter/spring clothing (and shoes, when he can wear them), pay off the first-class airline ticket it took for him to get to Boston (his leg doesn't bend at all, so he required the leg room). He also needs to continue to pay his mortgage and bills and buy supplemental healthy food - as the hospital is, obviously, only providing a minimally healthy diet.

We were able to finally gingerly bring him to Boston last Friday, after 2 days in St Croix and 21 days of hospitalization in Miami. I met up with him within hours of him landing in Miami on Feb 9, and stayed by his side for the entire time, giving him the personal care that the hospital just doesn't have the time and staff to provide - especially feeding, bathing, comforting, hair-brushing, as well as advocating for him while he was unable to speak up for himself from the depths of his agony. He lay in the bed broken for 7 days before they could perform the first of the surgeries - during which time he was unable to move any of his body except his left leg and his right arm - although his right arm had multiple IV's, sprained fingers and a broken thumb. There have been several very painful 'other' issues. You could ask him about the catheter issues he's had or about what Brandon describes as the most excruciating pain he has ever experienced - the traction bar that was literally bolted through his leg and strung with a 15 lb weight holding his hip out of socket so that it wouldn't heal incorrectly while he waited for 5 days for the surgical trauma hip specialist to fit him into his schedule.

The life-threatening, terrifying and horrific car accident happened not far from his home of 9 years, on the USVI of St Croix. During a torrential downpour on an island darkened by power-outage, his car was 'clipped' in the rear by a fast-approaching vehicle and sent off-road into a ditch and then a rock wall, completely smashing the car and deploying the airbags. Blessedly, bystanders were able to rescue his mangled body just before the car burst into flames.

Thank you for your consideration and for keeping Brandon in your prayers. If you can spare a bit to help him out, that would be amazing, if not, please keep sending your well-wishes and positive, healing energy!