Help Coach Rob Walk Again!

My name is Laura and I'm here to tell my brother, Rob Holley's story. If after hearing about his current adversity you are able to donate to his healing, my family and I would be forever grateful.

On August 7th our family was celebrating a birthday on Lake Pleasant. While we were tying up our boats, my 4 year old daughter tried to jump from one boat to another. Rob's wife, Jami, jumped to catch her and keep her from getting hurt, and they both fell into the water landing on Rob's head. After checking that my daughter was ok, I looked over and saw Rob floating face down in the water. Our brother, Mike, quickly turned him over to find he was fully awake, but couldn't feel or move his arms and legs.

While my husband and I raced to find phone service to call 911 and a boat rescue, Mike, Jami, Courtney (niece), and Dalton (his son) treaded water for almost an hour keeping Rob stable and afloat, until the water rescue arrived(who were some of the most amazing first responders I’ve ever seen in action).

He was then taken by ambulance to the #1 Trauma Hospital Honor Health Deer Valley. After multiple CTs and MRIs it was determined Rob had a pre-existing condition of atrophied ligaments that prevented his neck from absorbing the trauma of being hit in the head.

The NeuroSurgeon decided emergency surgery was needed and six bones in Robs neck were replaced with rods and screws. Dr. Lee also cleaned up the ligaments; which instantly helped Robs spinal cord decompress and he responded to stimulus while under anesthesia.

He has spent almost a week in the ICU recovering from surgery and getting stronger every day. Rob is numb from chest down but is able to move his legs - like the champ he is!

Though he can’t move his fingers, hands or arms (yet) he can feel some pressure of being touched and has a lot of nerve pain (we are taking this as a positive thing that is body is trying to “restart his system” and heal).

His next step will be to move to an acute in-patient rehabilitation center for 6-8 weeks, and his doctors say it could take up to 2 years to fully recover.

He has a very long hard road ahead of him but we are praying and hoping he will make a full recovery.

For those of you who don't have the pleasure of knowing Rob, let me tell you about this amazing man I get to call my big brother. Rob is what you would call a big teddy bear. He is the kindest, most loving person I know. He lives to help others. Rob is an amazing father, husband, son, brother, uncle, friend, co-worker, and all around human. One title he has held close to his heart for nearly 30 years is that of coach and mentor. He started coaching my soccer team when I was 6. He continued coaching girl's soccer long after I moved away. Later he had the opportunity to coach many of his own son's teams in multiple sports. Rob was also one of his football coaches at Poston Butte High School. He wasn't just there to help his little sister or his son; he was there to touch the lives of so many young athletes. He is an amazing mentor, and to know him is to love him like family.

Rob has always been the rock for Jami and Dalton, and now they are working so hard to be that rock for him. Just as so many families, they struggled through the pandemic and until recently, Rob was the sole provider. They were just starting to work their way back financially when this horrific accident took place.

The medical bills are quickly starting to pile up with no end in sight. Even with the help of insurance they currently need to pay for:

-the ambulance

-the surgery

- more than a week in ICU

-acute in-patient rehabilitation (6-8 weeks)

Future financial burdens include home care and any modifications that might be needed to make their house accessible.

Rob won't be able to work for the foreseeable future. Dalton is starting his junior year of college this month, and his wife will be splitting her time between working full time, visiting Rob, and making sure he has anything and everything he needs to recover.

On behalf of our entire family, thank you for any support you can provide. If you aren't able to donate at this time, we ask that you please share Rob's story.