Help Support Jacob Rosenkranz

On August 27, 2023, 22-year-old Jacob Rosenkranz, son of Germaine and Stuart Rosenkranz, sustained a traumatic brain injury at baseball practice at Missouri Baptist University. While participating in a fielding drill at practice, Jacob was hit with a hard-thrown ball to his left temple. Jacob sustained a skull fracture and brain bleed in his left temporal lobe and was transferred to a local trauma center. After days of monitoring and becoming less responsive, he underwent a craniotomy to relieve the swelling on his brain. A 6-inch to 8-inch section of his skull was removed, frozen, and will be surgically reconstructed in approximately 9-12 weeks when the swelling in Jacob’s brain has subsided. Jacob has made progress since his craniotomy and, on September 10th, was transferred to Shirley Ryan inpatient rehabilitation center in downtown Chicago.

Due to his traumatic brain injury, Jacob struggles with cognition, memory, and global aphasia (a language disorder that affects his ability to communicate). Jacob is on a long road to recovery and will require intensive inpatient therapy, followed by outpatient therapies, therapeutic day programs, and surgery to reconstruct his skull.

If you do not already know him, Jacob’s love for baseball started when he was 18 months old, throwing and hitting in his front yard. He has not missed a season since starting T-ball at 3 years old. Baseball became his passion, and he quickly learned it was more than just a game- it’s the coaches, players, and families that make the experience great. He has built amazing personal connections and strong friendships through the game of baseball. Jacob has learned some amazing values as well, like commitment, grit, resilience, and compassion. He brings this to everything he does in sports, academics and in his relationships with family and friends.

When he isn’t working on improving his baseball skills, he is working on his master’s degree in Criminal Justice, playing golf, playing board/card games and hanging out with friends and family. His family remains strong and talks about his recovery and future plans daily. As Jacob sits in his hospital bed, he constantly holds a baseball, working the seams to his various pitches. His goal is to return to graduate school and baseball. He understands he has a long road to regain speech and language function, but he is ready for the fight.

Please help support Jacob and his family. All money collected will go towards his medical bills and the intensive therapies he will need to regain his function, communicative ability, participate in his graduate program and his lifelong love of baseball again. Jacob has been jersey #12 since he was young. It only makes sense to make the goal $12,000!

UPDATE: As a result of a donor request, the goal amount has been increased to $22,000. This number has meaning as Jacob was #22 this past summer with the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. 

If you’re interested in following Jacob’s progress, you can search on Facebook for Rosie’s Road to Recovery and request an invite.