Raymond Pomeroy's Recovery - C4 Spinal Fracture

Raymond was a happy young adult who had a bright future ahead of him. He was embarking on his lifelong dream of becoming a commercial airline pilot. He was enrolled in flight school and working to get himself in top physical shape.

On August 31st of this year, tragedy struck. Raymond went to an end of summer gathering at a friend’s house. He tripped and fell into the family swimming pool. He hit his head on the bottom of the pool, rupturing the disk between his third and fourth cervical vertebrae. Raymond was instantly paralyzed. He was conscious but unable to signal to his friends or to swim to the surface, so he began to drown. Friends noticed his distress pulled him out of the water and began CPR. Paramedics rushed him to Cedars Sinai hospital where he underwent an emergency operation to remove the ruptured disk and decompress his spine in the neck region. He was transferred to the neuro ICU at Cedars Sinai and fitted with a respirator and feed tube to begin his recovery. Initially Raymond had no movement below his neck and after time he was able to breath on his own. He was soon sent to a long-term acute care hospital in West Covina and eventually to a congregate living facility in Sun Valley. Unfortunately, neither of these facilities had the staff or expertise to help him on his journey to recovery and independence. After a prolonged struggle with the insurance company Raymond was finally transferred to the California Rehabilitation Institute in Century City on December 23, 2022. This facility, albeit more expensive, has a whole floor dedicated to spinal care recovery. On February 3rd, Raymond, still in serious need of rehabilitation, came home to us. This led to costly modifications to our home and a vehicle to accommodate Raymond’s wheelchair.

This financial burden brings us to this moment of asking our family, friends and community for help facing this financial burden. Any donations would be highly appreciated as they will strictly go towards the unrelenting medical payments necessary for Raymond’s recovery and rehabilitation.

Raymond has been showing tremendous strength and resilience throughout this process and he remains very optimistic. He has been able to maintain his great sense of humor through all these challenges. He very much enjoys visits from friends and loved ones.

For more information, loved ones of Raymond have created a Facebook group where more timely updates can be posted on the trajectory and process of Raymond’s recovery. You can find this link here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/806317540484489/?ref=share&mibextid=S66gvF