Stephanie's Road to Recovery

As you may or may not have heard, there has been a terrible accident and our friend Stephanie and her Fiance Travis are in need of your help!

In the early morning of March 18, Travis and Stephanie were making their way home to Virginia Beach from Montana with a new vehicle when they hit a patch of ice, lost control, and got into a horrific car accident. While Travis sustained some minor injuries, Stephanie was not as fortunate. She had to be airlifted to the nearest hospital in South Dakota while fighting for her life. Upon arrival, she was rushed to surgery having sustained broken bones, major internal injuries, and worst of all a brain injury.

After life-saving surgery, she spent several days in the ICU on life support where she received around the clock care, Travis never leaving her side. As days passed she continued to make immense improvement. Her internal injuries began to heal, and it was time to see what she was able to do on her own. Over a couple of weeks, Stephanie was weaned off of all life-saving medical interventions, was breathing on her own, and was in fully stable condition. All fantastic news and to be celebrated, except she still remains in a coma.

Due to where she sustained trauma to her head, Stephanie has now been in an unassisted coma for weeks. There is no saying what life will be like for our beautiful friend when she wakes up, but for now, we like to refer to her as sleeping beauty.

For those who do not know Stephanie, she is an avid surfer and well-known in the Virginia Beach community for her work with local youth surf programs. She also has a wall full of trophies to speak for her talent in the water and her fighting spirit. Stephanie has the most beautiful smile and will make friends where ever she goes. She is a lover of dogs and has a precious 4 legged child named Hercules aka "Z". Her daily walks with him are everything to her.

One thing many may not have heard is that Stephanie and Travis got engaged just 6 days before the accident. It was something we know she was elated to share with everyone when she got home from her trip. Travis wants nothing more than to see her open her eyes and start planning their wedding.

Because this accident took place in South Dakota, a number of logistics had to be sorted out. Travis has yet to be home and arrived at the hospital with the clothes on his back and a few things that could be recovered from the wreck. Officers later found him at the hospital to bring his phone and wallet, as you can imagine were of need. Stephanie's mother and father made arrangements and rented a furnished space to stay in while she has been recovering from all her injuries. As of yesterday, April 17, she was flown to a rehab facility in Atlanta, GA where she will continue to receive around-the-clock care with Travis and family by her side.

Several organizations have been great financial support the last 4 weeks helping offset living expenses, travel, and food but resources are dwindling and we need your help. Travis will be headed back to work in Virginia Beach and will be headed to Atlanta to be with Stephanie every opportunity he gets. He also will need to be home regularly to take care of Steph's pup Z and all his special needs. Our hope with setting up this account is to allow him the financial stability to help with all travel and living expenses when spending time out of state to be with Stephanie. We also know how important it will be to Steph to maintain the life they have established so WHEN (speaking in faith) she wakes up, she can be back to the smiley, optimistic, friendly neighbor we all know her to be.

We cherish this community and all those who have been praying and have already been a support system during this uncertain time. Stephanie is a fighter and we are believing for a full healing and miraculous recovery. We will update you as much as possible with any improvements in her condition or immediate needs you may be able to help with.