Support Jeremi's Recovery After Tragic Terror Attack

In the early hours of January 1, my mom and I woke up to frantic calls from our dear friend Jordan that he and my father were separated along bourbon street and dad was missing. We were visiting New Orleans for a few days over new years. Mom and I saw the news quite quickly, and rushed to the scene of the horrific terrorist attack. My dad has been a quadriplegic for 25 years after a car accident left him paralyzed from the neck down in 1999. We couldn’t find dad, so we rushed to the nearest ICU. We sat with droves of family members searching for their loved ones, in horror that my quadriplegic father could not have possibly survived any type of traumatic injury. By the grace of god, a nurse came out of the trauma unit and said they had a man that was paralyzed and he was alive and talking. We wailed, dad was there and we couldn’t believe he was alive.

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His chair is circulating the news now as he was right beside the truck. He couldn’t get off the street and was thrown out of his chair, thankfully beneath gun shots. He laid in horror helpless while others ran off.

He is so lucky to be alive. And my mom and I were so grateful to find him and discover that he was alive, because we feared the worst for hours.

He is so lucky to be alive, and we are so grateful as many families here did not get the news we did.

My dad is a fighter, and loves to live life.

Dad underwent a 10+ hour surgery on two broken femurs in his legs and a bone sticking out of his shin. Anestesia is risky for dad and we were frightened. He came out of surgery late last night, and this morning we were so grateful that they were able to take him off of the ventilator. My dad has a remarkable thirst for life and a tremendously positive attitude. He told his story across several news networks today in hopes to let folks know that he was alive, despite many of our friends and family’s hysteria as they viewed images of his mangled wheelchair on national news outlets.

Dad is currently in the trauma ICU with a long road to recovery ahead of him, and we are all stranded in New Orleans as we locate him a new wheelchair and provide physical care to him when it is time to travel. We have accrued additional hotel, food, parking, and uber costs.

We are so reluctant to accept financial support as we know there are many more folks in worse condition, and we have already been blessed with the support of friends and family. However; the road ahead is unpredictable. Our family is grateful for the outcrying of support, and we will pay that support forward as it’s been given to us.

thank you.

Heaven Sensky-Kirsch

Jeremi’s very grateful daughter