Michael Schoolcraft's Journey
Donation protected
On November 4th, 2015, Michael Schoolcraft’s world changed forever, along with the world for his family and friends. Michael at age 37, was a completely independent, successful and high energy young man. He was making a career change while living at the families lake house in NC. While at the lake, he suffered the unimaginable … an Ischemic Stroke and a Hemorrhagic Stroke, and now he begins his journey to recovery.
Medically he needed emergency surgery to relieve the pressure, swelling and bleeding on his brain...which ultimately saved his life. This involved removing part of the skull as his brain needed room to heal. He spent a life-threatening period of 10 days in the ICU trauma center and the prognosis was grim…feeding tube, paralysis on right side, blindness in right eye and numerous risks for infection. It was the longest 10 days of our lives.
Once out of ICU he began to show signs of improvement…breathing and feeding tube removed, sight coming back to right eye and some movement on the right side. On December 5th, Michael was moved to a short term InPatient Rehab Center at NC Baptist Hospital. We are so blessed and happy to say Michael is continuing to make progress in his recovery. He has accomplished therapy goals the surgeons and doctors said would never be possible. Rehabilitation is intensive and includes a daily combination of physical, occupational and speech therapy. He is relearning the daily living skills most of us take for granted. Michael is now walking with assistance, his vision in his right eye is slowly starting to improve and he is now focusing on moving his right arm again. His speech and memory skills are getting better everyday as well. What an achievement! Go Michael! The doctors state that his positive attitude and determination have been a huge factor in his recovery.
As Michael’s journey continues, the realization that things will never again be the same is hard. Our goal for him is to achieve the highest level of independence as possible. After extensive research, we believe Learning Services in the Raleigh area will be the best fit for Michael to achieve his maximum potential. It is a specialized brain injury facility where he will receive intensive rehabilitation.
He moved to Raleigh on January 20th. They estimate he will need a minimum of 4-6 months of intensive therapy and supported living. When he arrived he stated to the therapist, “work me hard.” We feel so blessed for his positive attitude. In fact, he is keeping us strong at times.
Michael was a state wrestling champion and is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hunting and fishing. He attended Upper Iowa University on a wrestling scholarship and graduated with degrees in Business Administration and Marketing. After college, Michael took a job with an IT and Business Training company. Michael loved his job and it took him from Raleigh, NC as an entry level Training Advisor, to Toronto, Canada as a Senior Account Executive then on to San Jose, CA where he was promoted again to National Account Manager. Last year, Michael finished 185% of his sales goal! While living in California, Michael found his true love of snowboarding and has had a season pass to Kirkwood Resort in Lake Tahoe for the past 10 years where he spent every weekend. When asked what he wanted for Christmas this year, he responded, “to be able to use my Kirkwood season pass one more time!” Michael was also a member in good standing of Fraternal Order of Eagles in Mountain View, CA.
Thank you for taking the time to read Michael’s story. With this facility being private pay, the cost is $1200.00 per day. We are creating this fund to assist Michael with the cost of rehab. Please help us in supporting him as he continues his journey to recovery.
" Our Family is a circle of strength and love, every crisis faced together, makes the circle stronger. "
Medically he needed emergency surgery to relieve the pressure, swelling and bleeding on his brain...which ultimately saved his life. This involved removing part of the skull as his brain needed room to heal. He spent a life-threatening period of 10 days in the ICU trauma center and the prognosis was grim…feeding tube, paralysis on right side, blindness in right eye and numerous risks for infection. It was the longest 10 days of our lives.
Once out of ICU he began to show signs of improvement…breathing and feeding tube removed, sight coming back to right eye and some movement on the right side. On December 5th, Michael was moved to a short term InPatient Rehab Center at NC Baptist Hospital. We are so blessed and happy to say Michael is continuing to make progress in his recovery. He has accomplished therapy goals the surgeons and doctors said would never be possible. Rehabilitation is intensive and includes a daily combination of physical, occupational and speech therapy. He is relearning the daily living skills most of us take for granted. Michael is now walking with assistance, his vision in his right eye is slowly starting to improve and he is now focusing on moving his right arm again. His speech and memory skills are getting better everyday as well. What an achievement! Go Michael! The doctors state that his positive attitude and determination have been a huge factor in his recovery.
As Michael’s journey continues, the realization that things will never again be the same is hard. Our goal for him is to achieve the highest level of independence as possible. After extensive research, we believe Learning Services in the Raleigh area will be the best fit for Michael to achieve his maximum potential. It is a specialized brain injury facility where he will receive intensive rehabilitation.
He moved to Raleigh on January 20th. They estimate he will need a minimum of 4-6 months of intensive therapy and supported living. When he arrived he stated to the therapist, “work me hard.” We feel so blessed for his positive attitude. In fact, he is keeping us strong at times.
Michael was a state wrestling champion and is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hunting and fishing. He attended Upper Iowa University on a wrestling scholarship and graduated with degrees in Business Administration and Marketing. After college, Michael took a job with an IT and Business Training company. Michael loved his job and it took him from Raleigh, NC as an entry level Training Advisor, to Toronto, Canada as a Senior Account Executive then on to San Jose, CA where he was promoted again to National Account Manager. Last year, Michael finished 185% of his sales goal! While living in California, Michael found his true love of snowboarding and has had a season pass to Kirkwood Resort in Lake Tahoe for the past 10 years where he spent every weekend. When asked what he wanted for Christmas this year, he responded, “to be able to use my Kirkwood season pass one more time!” Michael was also a member in good standing of Fraternal Order of Eagles in Mountain View, CA.
Thank you for taking the time to read Michael’s story. With this facility being private pay, the cost is $1200.00 per day. We are creating this fund to assist Michael with the cost of rehab. Please help us in supporting him as he continues his journey to recovery.
" Our Family is a circle of strength and love, every crisis faced together, makes the circle stronger. "
Organizer and beneficiary
Melissa & Michelle S.
Organizer
Charlotte, NC
Michael Schoolcraft
Beneficiary