Help Jacob recover from motorcycle accident

On February 3rd , my 20-year-old grandson Jacob, a Florida Turnpike Road Ranger, was on his way to work to cover someone’s shift; he usually has Saturdays off. It was a little after 6AM, and he was only about a mile from his house when the unthinkable happened. An SUV pulled out of a side street and crossed over into the lane that Jacob, on his motorcycle, was traveling.

From the accident investigation, Jacob tried to swerve to avoid impact, but there was nowhere left to move. Jacob had invested over two thousand dollars in the riding gear that protected him from serious cuts and bruises. His helmet protected him very well, but the impact caused his brain to bounce off of his skull. The helmet was intact and just scraped on the side that received the blow to the back windshield.

In addition to the brain injury, Jake sustained an open-book fracture of his pelvis, and he currently has an external fixator. Since he is always trying to grab at the bars that are holding his pelvis in place, we can only assume that he is in quite some pain from that. He now has a metal rod and 8 screws in his back. He also has two burst transverse discs to yet be addressed. He has further lumbar fractures, but that hasn’t been addressed yet either. A “blow-out” orbital

fracture and a broken nose are the least of his problems at this point.

Jacob has not yet become aware of his surroundings, and he neurostorms, which raises his core temperature and his heart rate. A tracheostomy replaced the ventilator tubes a few days ago, and he appears to be much more comfortable with that except for when they have to suction out his lungs. I can’t tell you how painful it is to watch this loving, caring, generous, vivacious, personable young man just lie in bed and flail with his arms and hands erratically. We have so

many people praying for him – it’s astonishing what the power of love and prayer can do to comfort us. Jacob has quite a few surgeries ahead of him and then, of course, lots of different types of therapy. We have been told to expect 4-6 weeks in the Trauma ICU where he is currently, and many months of therapy. Although his bosses and co-workers love him, he may lose his job shortly, and with it, the very high deductible insurance offered through his work. They cannot leave a section of the turnpike unprotected, so they will have to replace him, I'm sure. His mother, my daughter, has been on disability due to an injury she suffered when working with a patient at her job. After 4.5 years, she finally got the operation she needed, and was actively searching for work when this happened. Since Jacob was helping with household expenses, finances are, unfortunately, going to be a problem. His mother stays by his side for 18-20 hours a day until I can force her to go home to rest while I stay with him.

I am setting up this GoFundMe account to try to help her pay her mortgage, monthly utilities, gas, food, for the many trips to the hospital, and anything else she needs to continue to provide for and to be close to Jacob. I thank you wholeheartedly for anything you can contribute to help them during this traumatic time. And prayers are always welcome for his healing and for strength.