Kyle Wong

On the early morning of August 20th, my brother Kyle was involved in a hit-and-run accident just 5 miles away from our home. Kyle was on his way home driving through a green light when a pickup truck ran a red light and hit Kyle on the driver’s side. The individuals ran away by foot after leaving their rolled-over truck. The case is still under investigation.

Kyle suffers from a severe traumatic brain injury and is still in a coma. At this point, it is hard to know what his prognosis will be. He has had numerous surgeries, including a craniectomy, and is fighting to wake up. He has shown progress including being able to breathe on his own, moving his arms and legs, and giving us signals that he feels our presence in the room.

My parents have been with Kyle in the hospital all day every day (and many nights) for nearly 2 months now. I spend most of my free time outside of school at the hospital so we can be all together. My parents and I have found Kyle a wonderful brain injury-specialized rehabilitation facility in Colorado. Kyle was all set to be discharged to Colorado (i.e., room ready for Kyle in Colorado, air ambulance transportation organized, housing for my parents reserved, Kyle’s bags packed), but we received the disappointing news this week that insurance denied the coverage to send Kyle there. Without insurance, the cost would likely be several hundred thousands of dollars. If Kyle is unable to go to this facility, he would stay in Minnesota at a long-term care facility without any specialized therapy. We all (my parents, myself, and Kyle’s clinical team) strongly believe that the facility in Colorado is the best hope we have for Kyle’s recovery.

If anyone knows our family, you know that we do not like asking for help and publishing this GoFundMe is very uncomfortable for us. However, we want the best care possible for Kyle and acknowledge that the road to recovery will be a long one. These funds will help support getting Kyle to Colorado and lighten the burden of his medical expenses for the unforeseeable future.

Kyle graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences this past May and was supposed to start the first day of his new job just 2 days after the accident. He is a skilled writer and worked at the Science Communication Lab and MnDRIVE Environment, played in the University of Minnesota concert band, and is an alumnus brother of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He is witty, intelligent, and sometimes an annoying younger brother :).

Kyle is young (just celebrated his 22nd birthday exactly a week before the accident), extremely active, and healthy. We believe these factors, Kyle’s dedicated medical team, and all of your support will help Kyle in his recovery. Please know that your love, thoughts, and prayers are the most important and greatest gift of all right now.