Help Eric on his Long Road to Recovery

Hello. My name is Vanessa and I am fundraising for my little brother Eric Sorenson. Eric was involved in a very scary, unique, and life-changing accident. At a family party on Wednesday, July 12th Eric was severely injured when the mat of an in-ground trampoline split while he was jumping and he came down full force on his right knee. Upon impact his knee was torn from the ligaments and dislocated into the back of his calf, tearing his popliteal artery and beginning a process of severe vascular damage, internal bleeding, and compartment syndrome which would require him to undergo emergency surgery for 8 hours that night. The surgery took longer than anticipated because the damage to the artery was so immense that it could no longer be used to maintain circulation and the surgeons needed to perform an emergency graft using his thigh vein to create a new artery from the back of his knee area which would circulate from that area down. EMTs who stabilized the leg at pickup inadvertently popped the knee back into his socket and artery during transport and until surgery could take place, which might have ultimately saved him from extreme blood loss. He has torn every one of his ligaments from his knee joint and sustained a tibial fracture that is being maintained by external hardware until the swelling and wounds can heal enough for him to be operated on again. The severe swelling of the calf caused a condition called compartment syndrome in the limb and required the physicians to make two long incisions on the sides of his calf to release pressure and maintain circulation, these deep incisions are to be maintained by a long-term wound vac. This 20-year-old will forever be changed by this and yet the day after he said, “I am just grateful it happened to me so it didn't happen to anyone else!” He has remained his steady, kind, genuine, and loving self in the face of pain, uncertainty, and heartbreak. Eric will be recovering from this for a LONG time and will not be able to work or do many of the things that he was capable of doing before. Along with all the medical bills that will be accruing from his hospital stay, physical therapy, and the many surgeries that lie ahead, he will also still need to be paying rent, insurance, car payments, groceries, etc. His girlfriend is also on her road to recovery after undergoing 5 failed surgeries to fix the ACL on her right leg. They are in need of some love and generosity. My heart breaks for my brother who is just starting life and has already hit such a rough patch which will forever impact his mobility. Eric is someone who has always been there to help anyone and everyone, but he rarely asks for it himself. This is why I ask you to please donate what you can. Anything helps. Eric as well as family and friends couldn’t be more grateful! Thank you ❤️

I will also include his Venmo so that donations can be sent there as well. (There is no fee taken from Venmo donations.)

Venmo- @Eric-Sorenson-15