Support for Aaron Gerbo and family after motorcycle accident

Update on 6/19/2024

Folks,

Aaron's hero walk is tentatively scheduled for today at 5pm. Friends, family, and everyone else are all welcome to come and cheer for him as he is wheeled to the OR to donate his organs. Details may change as the time gets closer, but plan to meet at UIHC by Elevator I on the 5th floor (entrance to the SNICU) at 4:30 or 4:45. Given the nature of how busy the hospital is, it could happen on time or could be delayed a couple of hours.

Edit at 7am - The hospital just contacted Mary and confirmed for 5pm tonight. Still, come early and be prepared for the possibility of a delay. Monitor the facebook pages for Mark DeLarm and Ruth Peterson for the most up to date information.

Update 2 on 6/18/2024

Aarons obituary is now posted. The link is here.

Update on 6/18/2024

Funeral arrangements for Aaron are as follows:

Visitation Sunday 2-5

Funeral Monday 10 am with burial and celebration of life to follow

Funeral home

Stewart Baxter

715 10th Ave SW

Mt Vernon, IA 52314

Celebration of Life on Monday at approximately noon.

Tin Roof Hideaway

1003 N Washington St

Lisbon, IA 52253

Because Aaron is generously giving the gift of life to others, the Hospital will be having a hero walk as he is on his way to make his donation.

We would love the friends and family who can make it to line the halls of the hospital during this walk. We currently do not have a day or time but will announce as soon as the information is available.

Thank you again for all of your love and support.

Update on 6/16/2024

Our family wants to extend our deep gratitude for the incredible support, love and prayers. We can attest that your prayers are being felt as we navigate this extremely difficult time.

Aaron was severely injured in the accident and will not recover from his injuries. He has been on life support since the accident giving all of us precious time to say our goodbyes, to tell stories, to grieve and to give us closure. The medical team will be running further tests tomorrow and a final time of death will be established at that time.

Aaron’s selflessness and generosity will be extended into his passing as he is an organ donor. In order to allow time for Aaron to give the gift of life to others, visitation and the funeral arrangements will tentatively be Sunday and Monday. At this time we ask that if any of you have photos that you would like to share for the funeral to forward them to Ruth Peterson on Facebook Messenger or via email: [email redacted]. A memorial wall will be posted at a later time.

Our family is overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support. We’ve had so many reach out from near and far and we thank you. Thank you for surrounding our family with love during this time.

Medical, living and general expenses will be extensive. For those of you compelled to help, Mary’s Venmo is @mary-gerbo.

We currently do not have a centralized location to send condolences for Aaron. However the following addresses are available.

Condolences and/or monetary gifts of support

Mary Gerbo c/o Ruth Peterson

PO Box 264

Conrad, IA 50621

CONDOLENCES

Mike and Joan Gerbo

10049 SW 89th Loop

Ocala, FL 34481

Original Post 6/15/2024

Hi Everyone. I'm Mary Gerbo's brother, Mark, and I'm setting up this GoFundMe to help with medical expenses for Aaron and Audrey Gerbo after their motorcycle accident, along with living expenses for Mary and Aaron's family while he is recovering. Their accident occurred yesterday, June 14th, when a car pulled out in front of them as they were traveling along highway 100 in Marion. Aaron's sister, Ruth Peterson, wrote a good synopsis last night which I will paste here.

From Ruth:

Friends and prayer warriors, today my brother Aaron Gerbo and my 10 year old niece were in a severe motorcycle accident. His motorcycle was t-boned by a car that didn’t see them. My niece is spending the night in the hospital for observation but is doing well and is expected to be released tomorrow.

Aaron took the majority of the blow which protected his daughter. Aaron is needing your prayers. He has undergone one surgery so far and from the latest update most likely will need more. Out of privacy for our family, we will not be releasing full details until later. Aaron is not out of the woods but is stabilized but not stable and they are monitoring him closely. They will be doing a full body scan to determine what further injuries he may have.

Please keep him in your prayers, good thoughts and positive energy. Please keep my sister in law Mary Gerbo in those prayers as well as she navigates this process. Keep my niece in your prayers as she heals from this. Please keep my parents and myself in your prayers as we are traveling from out of state to be there. Also include the medical team taking care of him as the navigate the difficult task to repair the multitude of injuries he’s endured.

If you have questions please direct them to me to allow Mary and our family time to focus on the care process.

As Ruth said, to allow Mary to focus on the important things at this time, she is sending updates to Ruth Peterson to spread news on Aaron's side of the family, and is sending updates to Joyce Paulsen to spread news on Mary's side of the family.