Please Help George Land Walk Again

Hi, my name is Allie, and I am asking for your support to help my brother, George, regain his ability to walk after having suffered a tragic accident at work that has paralyzed him from the waist down. He has an opportunity to receive a promising Stem Cell treatment that may enable him to walk again. Unfortunately, health insurance does not cover this type of treatment and will require us to raise a significant amount of funding to pay for it.

With your help, my little brother will be made whole again to walk and help raise his young daughter, Sammy, as he currently has no income. My brother was self-employed and did not have worker's compensation coverage. And unfortunately, he does not qualify for disability funding either. In addition, his only caretakers at this time are my mom and me. So you can imagine the hardship we are in.

George was the proud owner of a tree service business called Above Land, and on Thursday, November 18, 2021, he fell 35-40 feet from a tree he was working on. The large branch that was cut spun out of control, where it hit his head and knocked him unconscious. Somehow his harness release button activated and released him to free fall to the ground, crushing his spine, breaking almost all of his ribs and puncturing both lungs. George also incurred a traumatic brain injury where he had hemorrhaging on the brain. He was rushed to Jefferson Trauma Unit, where the incredibly talented team of doctors and nurses saved his life by stabilizing him with the life-saving medicines and medical technology we are so blessed to have in the United States.

George's spinal cord injury created a severe wedge compression at the T10-11 area with other surrounding fractures above and below. His back surgery was performed to prevent further deterioration. It also took the pressure off his spine by removing bone and tissue from the area. The injury bruised a lot of nerves where blood flow was inadequate due to the compression. Some of the damage is reversible, but some is not. His surgeon explained that there is an area of his spinal cord with a sliver of a live signal left in the compressed region. And the dura is still intact.

After two months at Jefferson Hospital, George graduated to intense Rehabilitation at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital for four months. He was then released home with my mom to begin adapting to his injury and work hard in outpatient therapy to recover as much function as possible. George has been making significant progress over the past few months with outpatient treatment, alternative therapies, home exercises, and a standing wheelchair to increase his circulation in his lower body, legs and feet, as seen in the attached video.

Through months of research, we learned about the astounding possibilities for Spinal Cord Injury patients to walk again through Stem Cell Therapy. So we decided to apply for treatment. As a result, my brother is considered a candidate for these Stem Cell treatments intended to repair his damaged spinal cord and provide the potential for the miracle we have been praying for to watch him walk on his own again! This is super exciting news, but it comes with a high price of nearly $30,000.

Despite my brother's heroic efforts and the medical marvels presented to him, George continues to have a lot of work and hurdles before he can walk independently again. This recovery will involve intense rehabilitation and alternative therapies to enhance the success of the treatment. Until now, we have been paying for most of George's care, supplies and equipment that insurance has not covered. Since this treatment is unavailable in the United States and there is no insurance coverage, we need your help more than ever.

Your donations will help give my brother access to this special treatment, allowing him the opportunity to walk again. We hope one treatment will be all he needs. If he needs more, we will continue to try to raise more funds to carry on with this journey. We hope and pray that my brother will be another walking example of the possibilities Stem Cell research holds for other spinal cord injury patients. Can you imagine the positive impact this could have on others? We are so hopeful and excited to help make a positive difference for my brother and others. Unfortunately, so many spinal cord injury patients do not have an advocate. We want to pay this opportunity forward with grateful hearts to become a voice to keep hope and possibilities alive for other SCI patients! We have a vision and need your help to carry out our mission. Please consider cheering us on to make this a reality!

Please support my brother by donating to this page to help him walk again. No amount is too small. We genuinely appreciate your support!

With Gratitude,

Allie