Stephen Halpern Third Party Special Needs Trust

To all of our dearest family, friends, colleagues, and all who have been touched by Stephen:

 

On May 6th, 2022, Stephen went into cardiac arrest while trying to walk to the hospital, due to pneumonia he had contracted during a bout with COVID. He is fully vaccinated and boosted, and was in perfectly good health prior to this event. He was fortunately revived on the scene, and then immediately rushed to the ER. He has since been in a deep coma in the medical ICU with associated medical issues. Unfortunately, he has sustained a brain injury, but we are all hopeful that he will recover, especially given his age. We aren’t sure how long he will remain in a coma, or what condition he will be in when he emerges, but we are steadfast in knowing in our hearts that he will recover. The world needs Stephen back.

 

As most of you know, Stephen is a generous, caring, kind, and gentle human being, and an incredibly hard-working elementary school art teacher. As a teacher, he has engendered the love of art in his students, and touched more lives than we ever could have imagined. This is clear from the hundreds of cards from his students that cover the walls of his hospital room (pictured below). He has also been tutoring students on the side to save up money to get a dog. We look forward to the day when he is fully healed, and can finally bring home that puppy he has wanted for so long.

 

It is not in our nature to ask for financial support, but we want to make sure Stephen has the best possible care once he is discharged from the hospital (beyond the limited coverage of his insurance). We are exploring various skilled nursing facilities, in New York and New Jersey, depending on the level of support and rehab he will need. This will be quite costly (hundreds of thousands of dollars or more) to maintain his care and well-being for many years to come. The timeline is still very much up in the air.

 

We are already so grateful for the outpouring of love, support, and good wishes from everybody in Stephen’s life. We firmly believe that all of the positivity we have received in the past few weeks has given Stephen the strength to continue fighting. It might be a long road ahead, but Stephen is a resilient fighter, and he will make it through this stronger than ever. We continue to pray and hope for miracles. Thank you all. ❤️

 

Lots of love,

The Halpern family

 

Many of you have asked about visiting Stephen. We are advising to hold off until Stephen’s condition improves, and he is further down the road in his recovery. We will continue to provide updates as we receive them along the way.

 

Any donation, large or small, would benefit Stephen’s recovery. The raised funds will cover:

 

– Current hospitalization costs beyond his insurance coverage

– High-level skilled nursing care for the near future

– Extended rehabilitation care for an indefinite period of time/remainder of his life

– Possible re-hospitalization, if needed

– Meals, transportation for Stephen and his family