Phil Wallis’ Spinal Cord Injury

 Hello, and thank you for reading our story

I give fair warning that these events actually happened, and are very traumatizing. This is from my point of view.

My name is Brittany Jean and I made this for my Uncle Phil. Phillip Wallis. He is 48 years old, owns his own drywall company, and lives in a small town in Michigan. He is a man that is loved by so many. He is always making jokes, and he never leaves a room without making everyone in it smile first. He loves the simple things in life. His wife, Tina, whom he has been with since he was 15 years old. His son, Phillip Jr., who shares both his name and his birthday (turning 18 in August). His favorite hobbies are hunting, fishing, spending time with his family and enjoys helping his neighbors.

Anyone who knows us, knows he also walked me down the aisle at my wedding.

I am asking for help for my aunt and uncle. 

On June 24, 2023, at approximately 7:40pm, my uncle’s life changed forever. 

He had spent the last year working on the pride and joy of his property-a pond. In 2022 they dug this pond, and Uncle Phil couldn’t wait for it to be the new family hangout. On Saturday, June 24, we had spent the day in it. Most of us were sunburned. We had a great day with family enjoying the water. We had just finished eating and then we went back out to play. My husband and Uncle Phil both ran and jumped in the pond, which is something they had done all day. They were jumping in head first. However, if you jumped out far enough you would land in the deepest part of the pond.

I did not see his jump this time. Uncle Phil surfaced with his head shaking, face down in the water. My aunt called to him, but he did not respond. My husband immediately swam over to him and grabbed him. He flipped him over in the water and his lips were already blue. He was completely unresponsive. Instant panic set in for each of us. My aunt and our cousin ran to my husband in the water, and helped bring Uncle Phil to shore. My son, who is 8 years old, was standing on the shore. As soon as I realized something was wrong I started screaming for him to run to the house. He ran inside, where Phillip Jr was, and told him that something happened, and uncle Phil was hurt. As soon as they got to the shore they checked for a pulse. CPR was started while I called 911. I passed Phillip Jr while running to the road for the ambulance. I will never forget the look of fear I saw on his face as he ran to his dad. While on the phone with 911, I told them Uncle Phil jumped in the pond and came up unresponsive. At this point I began having multiple panic attacks. I stayed on the phone with 911 until help arrived. It took 5 minutes for help to come. Our family provided CPR the entire time. I ran to EMS and had them follow me back to Uncle Phil. They arrived to find my husband, my uncle, and my cousin taking turns giving CPR. Tina and Phillip Jr were giving rescue breaths between compressions.  By this time there were deputies and other emergency providers arriving to help. They told us to pull Uncle Phil out of the water the rest of the way. Uncle Phil was still in the water from his knees down. When we pulled him out completely, we could visually see him breathing. He was breathing from his belly and it was extremely labored. But, he was breathing!

My aunt rode with the Sheriff's office in the vehicle behind them. My aunt didn’t have her phone or anything else with her. She was still wearing wet clothes. Phil Jr was screaming for his dad to be okay while punching the ground. My aunt used the sheriff’s phone to call her mom, the only phone number she could remember. Her mom and step dad were also at the house and saw everything happened at the pond. She then called to tell us he was talking in the ambulance! This was a such breath of relief. Our family was able to bring him back. I couldn’t believe my own eyes. I still find it hard to wrap my head around all that took place. 

My uncle's own son and wife had to do CPR on him. My husband, aunt's brother, and aunt's nephew had to do CPR on him. How could this be happening???

We called our family and told them what happened. Everyone met us at the hospital. Once there we learned Uncle Phil had fractured C4 and C5, C4 being the worst. As a result of the fractures and the trauma, his spinal cord was severely damaged. He was struggling. We were told that his head hit the bottom of the pond, causing his chin to snap into his chest. It is called hyperflexion of the neck. It tore all of the muscles and the ligaments in his neck on impact. His spinal cord is not severed, thank the Lord, but it is severely damaged. He also aspirated a large amount of pond water into his lungs. 

He has been in the Nuerotrauma ICU ever since. These have been the hardest days of our lives. The doctors say it will be a full year before we know his full potential. He cannot breathe on his own yet and is on a vent. He is paralyzed from the neck down, though he is fully aware mentally. Doctors are saying that he has a 5% chance of regaining movement. He underwent a tracheostomy several days ago, which has allowed him to communicate with us. We can read his lips and interact that way with him. He is aware of his injures and he is very deeply saddened by it. We are currently working on getting him to breathe with the trach. He is on dialysis and there are many other things are happening. 

Once Uncle Phil is stable, our next step is to move him to Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids. There he can undergo excellent but intense rehab and therapy. Aunt Tina will remain by his side for this journey to Grand Rapids.

The money raised will go towards medical bills, expenses with rehab and any other needs they may have. Neither of them are working now and they sincerely need all the support they can get. If you would prefer to send money without GoFundMe, Venmo is another option.

We are asking you to donate if you are able to do so. If you are not able to donate, please consider praying for Uncle Phil and our family, or even sharing this page. Thank you all.