Support John's Miraculous Recovery Journey

They say It takes a village to raise a child. The Walters are a part of my village. To know the Walter Family is to love the Walter Family! Please read their oldest son John’s story below and help in any way you can so they can continue to focus on his healing and rehabilitation journey ahead.

On June 18th, after spending the day with friends, enjoying the ease and freedom of his summer after high school graduation with big plans to attend UNC-Chapel Hill this fall, John had an accidental fall from a vehicle where he sustained a traumatic brain injury. He continues to be in the ICU at WakeMed. His family has faithfully stayed by his side, keeping vigil, praying for his recovery and managing the visits from his many friends, who are truly devastated by his injury and near loss of life, all while trying to understand the medical complexity of his injuries and processing the reality of this event.

There are not words big enough to describe the emotional roller coaster this family has been on since the accident. From the initial night when they learned he most likely would not survive his injuries and as they continued to hear that the outlook was grim with very little hope for any type of recovery, to waiting for the peak swelling of his brain to pass and see if he would be able to survive it. The family became familiar with intracranial pressure (ICPs) and the family watched John’s ICPs numbers and waited. As the swelling continued, they were told there were no other options to explore, nothing left to do but wait and pray.

And so they prayed. And prayed. And his friends prayed and parents of friends prayed and strangers prayed and we all waited. John's friends organized prayer circles up by Falls Lake and at friend’s homes and people everywhere started wearing John's Journey bracelets and saying prayers for him. It was focused, faithful and without fail. As the peak brain swelling period passed, he survived and then he began to improve! We were witnessing what can only be described as a miracle by some, unexpected by others but WONDERFUL by all.

John has a long, unpredictable road ahead of him for his recovery. He has made great strides to breathe on his own, neurologically he is improving and continuing to wow the medical community with his young amazing brain and body, fighting to recover. All with his family Ann, Rob, Charlie (15) and Alice (14) by his side. We would like to take some of the financial burden off of this family, to help with his ongoing medical needs which are yet to be determined but as he is approaching one month in ICU and projected now to include rehabilitation, it is easy to reason the cost will be astronomical.

Please consider a donation to help with John's recovery journey. His family is so humbled by all the support they have already received with meals, gift cards and visits and prayers- it's truly been overwhelming to see and they are beyond grateful. In my opinion, this outpouring is simply a testament to what a wonderful family this is and how many people they have touched in our community and just how loved and important they are to us all. John’s family’s love is fueling his recovery. Now we need to fuel his family. No donation is too insignificant, just like your prayers, every single little bit counts!

You can follow John's progress on CaringBridge.

https://www.caringbridge.org/site/5421c2d8-2fc6-11ef-b07a-dde5ca5f0db1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web&utm_content=copylink_leftmenu_php

With Love,

Countless friends of the Walters