Help Rick Recover, Emergency Spinal Cord Surgery

From Rick,”My name is Rick D’Andrea Jr. I’m a physical therapist who treats out of New York City as well as traveling to help MMA athletes. I had a broken down vertebrae and a slipped disc which was pressing directly into my spinal cord and required emergency care. The first surgery attempt has failed with further damage and compression to my spinal cord showing on MRI. The failure created a second crush injury. Our second more invasive surgery has also failed following initial success. With continued loss of function.

I’m currently at risk of losing the function of my legs, feet, and some internal organs. The ability to have a family. I have spent most of my life helping others and now have to reach out to the community to help me. My third surgery now is a major spinal reconstruction which will have more prolonged medical care, adaptations at home and rehabilitation that will be needed. I will be unable to work for multiple months in order to safely return to life as normal without reinury if this surgery is successful and hopefully will continue to live a full life with a full or almost full return of all my function. These funds will help to cover my time out of work, my rehabilitation, adaptive equipment for home, home modifications, ongoing medications, follow up doctors visits for the next year, adjunctive treatments for recovery like hyperbaric chambers if possible and more. It will be beyond helpful in trying to return me back to as normal of a life as possible.