Lee Waldow-Snowmobiling Accident

Hey all!

I am Katie, Lee's oldest and only sister.

Lee and his family could use some help.

On January 21st, Lee was riding snowmobiles with his uncle in-law Bo when he hit a washout (basically a big snow/dirt wall) in the middle of a field outside of Mitchell.

Thankfully, Bo was able to call 911, and get Lee to the road so an ambulance could get to him. Lee said that when he regained consciousness in the field, he could not feel his arms or legs. In the Mitchell ER Lee had a CT scan that showed he had no broken bones, no internal bleeding, but was still in immense amounts of pain- mainly in his arms. At the time, his arms and hands were not working at all- legs were pretty wobbly. Lee was then sent to Sioux Falls where they completed an MRI, and found out he has Central Cord Syndrome. A disk between 2 vertabrae in his neck is pushing on his spinal cord. He will be having surgery to remove the disk.

Because the spinal cord is basically the base bundle of nerves, the disk is blocking or intruding on (causing nerve pain and lack of function) signals from the brain to his arms. While surgery will help relieve pressure, the spinal cord per the doctors will forever remember the injury. This means the hope is that surgery allows the spinal cord to heal, but the surgery is mainly to prevent that disk from slipping further into the spinal cord (which would cause major life altering issues). It will be a lengthy recovery.

Lee is doing a bit better now, however before the accident, Lee was working on the farm for his father in law, to provide for his family- his wife Ashley, and his children Nada and Gabe. They will have large out of pocket costs for the surgery, and Lee will be out of work for an undetermined amount of time. (It could take a year to see his arms improve function, if they regain function.)

Please consider donating if you are able, to help my brother and his family out.

Much thanks!

Katie