Rudy's Life-Threatening Injury [How you Can Help]

 

 

 

Rudy is in critical condition with a life-threatening injury and a road of surgeries ahead. 

Four Days Ago, on November 29th, Rudy was in a near-fatal car accident.

 

Rudy is a writer, carpenter, a humble teacher of Breathwork, meditations, qigong, and also a passionate musician.

 

He was hit by a car while riding his electric motorbike on Salt Spring Island. The driver of the car didn’t see Rudy coming
There was nothing Rudy could do to avoid the head-on collision.

His right leg was severely crushed.

 

Rudy waited on the road for 20 minutes breathing through the agonizing pain,
with his leg completely unrecognizable, and his left shoulder badly fractured.

 

After help arrived he was immediately evacuated by a medical helicopter to Victoria,

where his first surgery lasted around 5 hours.

 

Where are we at now?

 

Rudy is in critical condition under constant medical monitoring. 

He is about to enter his first surgery to operate on his left shoulder (arthroscopic repair) and to try to prevent any major infections resulting from his leg. 

This will be the second operation in a series of surgeries he will need to undergo. 

After a CT scan post-first surgery, it was found there are major bones missing in his right leg, his knee joint is broken and there is a major knee bone missing, other parts of his leg bones are entirely broken.

 

There is a great likelihood of amputation of the entire right leg. 

The doctor on the phone today told me there are 3 options :

1 - Reconstruction of Rudy's leg bones  (at least 5-6 surgeries).
There is a high chance of infection + a low chance this will be effective.
The doctors don’t know if there are enough bones in his body to do this.  

2 - Replace the bones and joints in Rudy's leg (multiple surgeries). 
This presents the highest risk of infection and a longer state of recovery. 

3 - Amputate Rudy's right leg.
Rudy's right leg - a hand down from the hip bone will be removed and prosthetics would be needed. 

 

What lies ahead?

 

There is a  great likelihood (but not certainty) Rudy will lose his right leg 

 

The ability of the doctors to successfully reconstruct Rudy's leg is low and this option is still being explored

Regardless, our beloved Rudy faces a long road of recovery.

 

A long process of settlement claim with ICBC (which may only provide medical support) -
even though the driver of the car is 100 % at fault in this accident. 

 

How does this impact life?

 

Rudy is a carpenter, a qigong teacher, a passionate cyclist, forest runner, he is a MOVER…

passionate about health, vitality, nature, and expansion.

 

His passion won’t change but there are some major losses.

 

He will have to recover and repair his leg and body extensively.

He faces more surgery & rehabilitating a leg over the next 12+ months

 

Or he will learn to live and adapt to life without his right leg.

 

Rudy's home and income are dependent on him being able-bodied and in good health.

 

Rudy has lived a very sweet and rustic life in his hand-built yurt home with an outdoor shower and outdoor toilet fit for an active and agile person. Life in his yurt includes stairs to access his home and a ladder reaching to the bedroom he sleeps in. He may not be able to live in his home for some time while he is on this road of recovery and his home will need to be majorly reworked to accommodate this new situation.

 

His regular and once dependable form of income in the trades will not be available to him.

 

How You Can Help: 

 

The road ahead is long.

 

We need your financial support for the major financial expenses right now and to come.

These include:

 

- Cost of extensive medical treatments…and possible prosthetics/replacements/miracle surgeries

 

- Rudy has no income and little savings. He has lost his ability to work for at least a year + we don't know what his capacity to work will be in the near future. 

 

- Rent for an accessible home for Rudy to live in while he recovers (whether for a year of rehabilitation or life with one leg)

 

-Funds to renovate Rudy's home so it can be accessible 

 

- Pay for Caregiving support. Cat, his living partner will let go of the majority of her work to be Rudy's 24/7 support person.
This impacts her ability to generate enough income to cover her basic living needs.

 

We calculate that the expenses will be a lot higher than the Gofundme goal so any amount you can contribute will make a difference!

Please share this with your networks as the more of us there are,

the greater impact we can have to support Rudy in his great time of need.

 

Rudy is an incredible shining light in our community - all who know him, love him.

His huge warm generous heart and beautiful warrior spirit inspire and uplift everyone around him.


Now is the time to show him we are by his side in this time of great adversity and healing.

 

 

 

 

Images below of Rudys Inquiry deck, Know Thyself, the Warriors delight
available at multiple locations on Saltspring island and Banyan books in Vancouver.