Chris’s SHARK BITE recovery fund

Team fundraiser

Ashley L and Denise Gentry are organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Victoria Pospisil.

Donation protected

Hello all! This is Chris’s cousin, Ashley. I have gone ahead and opened a GoGundMe for Chris in order to help him and his family cover the medical costs and Chris’s living after his shark bite.

On Friday, July 14th, 2023, at approximately around 3:15 in New Smyrna Beach, Chris and his friend were surfing the south jetty, when Chris was suddenly bitten and pulled off his board. Chris’s friend helped paddle him to shore to find help (thank you to Reece for helping save Chris’s life!) - Chris sustained serious injuries to his foot and needed emergency surgery that took a lil over 4hrs. The surgeon said Chris lost about 1 large Chick-fil-a sized cup of blood, and he repaired 7 Tendons and a small artery which could not be repaired. The surgeon even found s shark's tooth stuck in his bone, but it was broken in order to get out. The sharks tooth actually fractured the bone.

Chris is currently still in the hospital for at least 1 more day before he can go home (but we have not gotten confirmation on whether or not he will spend a 3rd night). Right now Chris is doing well, but we have to watch for infection during this time AND when he is sent home with his stitched-up foot there is still a possibility of infection.

Chris will be unable to work for what we were told a possible 5-6 months as his foot recovers. Chris has been going to UCF in Orlando and is a part of the UCF Surf team, surfing is one of Chris's favorite sports and he has been paying for his apartment and schooling with his job with construction/remodeling interior. Because of the accident, he has been set back in his savings for the cost of living, schooling, and his hope for joining the military after school. Chris’s mom will also be affected as she is helping with the medical costs.

Here is what we know so far: Chris has 6 weeks of being off his foot, having a cast, and only being allowed to get up and down to help blood flow, and to prevent infections. THEN he will have to start P.T as soon as he is cleared to do so. (We dont know if his insurance will cover this or how long he will have to do it for - im estimating Atleast 1 year)

We are not sure what the total costs will be yet, So I estimated from online Surgeries that were not covered by insurance. And added a half years salary for 10k-20k. The actual costs could be more or less - we really are not sure at this time - especially seeing as it will be 2 months before Chris can start PT . AND we are hoping he gets approved for some assistance with the medical costs.

we know for At least 6 months, Chris will be needing help & support from his friends and family, and we hope that making a GoFundMe will help to fundraise some, or hopefully, all of the costs he needs to cover his surgery, hospital stay, recovery, and living.

we hope to update here soon on any other info, but the family asks for prayer on quick healing, and for chris to have high-spirits in a time of uncertainty, while he endures a very painful injury.

THANK YOU for wanting to help, and for reading thus far. We are hoping to reach a large part of our goal as the next few months play out.

if you decide to gift a donation, we would love for you leave some words of encouragement for Chris if possible.

We will keep this GoFundMe up for Chris and his mom past his 6months of recovery in order to continue support for them at this time.

Chris taking his first walk out of bed [ to prevent bedsores and infection] 7/15/23

Chris after his 4hr surgery

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Sunday 7/16/23 Update:

Ashley here! - here is an update from Chris's mom from last night-this afternoon.....

...Chris had a rough night last night as his nurses did not give him the right amount of pain meds. After a long night of pain, and a large meeting with doctors and nurses.... Chris is now resting. The surgeon came in to check on the wounds, and there was a lot of swelling, so he took off the bandages in order to help with pain management. The nurses who take bacterial samples gave a good update, but want everyone to know that it takes up to 5 days for infectious bacteria to grow....they are keeping a close eye on it. WHICH MEANS.... Chris is staying another night.

** I launched the donation page today and we wanted to give a big shout out to a few of my friends who sent in donations today! Thank you so much for supporting Chris, he is not out of the woods yet**

[I'm hoping to get some video updates from Chris when he is feeling up to it. I'm sure he has posted and responded to his friends on social media by now]

ALSO - as we progress I will update the costs, that way all donors will know exactly where the money will be going.