Help Steve Recover From A Stroke & Brain Bleed

On December 1, 2022 Steven Hinkle suffered a stroke, which left him with pain and weakness on the left side of his body. Then on Friday, December 16 while Steve was already in a rehabilitation center recovering from his previous injury, he suffered a brain bleed. Though cognizant, he is currently immobile and intubated in the ICU. His recovery process will take months, and that is why we are reaching out to you for some help.

Unfortunately, brain injuries such as these are not new for Steve. He has an AVM—which is a cluster of blood vessels in the brain that is undetectable until it bursts—and once it bursts, it is unpredictable. AVMs can continue to be active and bleed at any time, or they can be dormant. Some people can live with AVMs their entire lives without knowing it. However, Steve learned of his AVM when it burst in 2010 (when he was 15-years-old). After that initial bleed, Steve had to recover from a coma and memory loss, and he had to relearn how to breathe without medical aid, walk and talk. He underwent multiple surgeries and had a shunt inserted into his brain in case of future bleeds. Because Steven’s AVM is located on his brain stem—the part of the brain that controls motor skills—it cannot be removed.

Nevertheless, he overcame the injury and he graduated high school on time. Then in 2015, he suffered an episode of brain swelling. Once again, recovery in the hospital and a rehab center took months, but he graduated from Caldwell University on time with honors. Throughout the pandemic, Steve completed a vocational training program through Eastwick College that allowed him to gain his Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree, and certification to practice as an Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA).

In spite of the challenges Steve remains an active, resilient and hopeful person who lives his life to the fullest. He loves cats, heavy metal music, baking and Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. He is an avid reader. He loves to walk through the local nature reserves. He can kick anyone’s butt at Scrabble and Mario Kart on Nintendo Switch. Sometimes he tends a vegetable garden. He is engaged to his partner, Alfredo, and is hoping to get married in 2024. Most recently, he was working as an OTA in an inner-city public School, where he was helping differently abled children regain mobility/motor skills.

We’re asking you to donate because his recovery process will, once again, be long and arduous. He’ll be out of work for months. Like any 27-year-old, he has bills to pay: car insurance, credit card payments, upcoming student loan repayments, common utilities and more. Unlike most people his age, he also has, and will continue to accrue, huge amounts of medical debt. When the New Year arrives, his insurance will require a high deductible and co-insurance payment.

Most of us don’t know what it’s like to have to relearn how to breathe and walk. Lots of us are lucky to live through our teens and 20s without life-or-death risks on the daily. Many of us will never understand just how frustrating it is to recover from such a traumatic injury, only to have to do it over, and over, and over again. But we can all understand the stress of everyday life expenses/utilities, especially in challenging times—and we are hoping you can help out with this small faction of Steve’s recovery.