Team Hatch

Philip Hatcher suffered a devastating bike accident while mountain biking with his wife, Kelly and friend, Chris, on Saturday, June 23rd. Kelly kept him alive and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while Chris biked the trail to get help. After two hours alone in the woods help finally came. It took four hours to get Phil to a clear part of the trail by stretcher, thanks to many volunteers and rescue workers. He was then carried by ATVs and a helicopter to Mission Hospital in Asheville. Sunday, June 24th he had surgery on his upper spine, C3-5 (found at the lower neck). Just one level below C2 which is responsible for breathing so we are thanking God this is the level that was affected. They fused the spine together and Philip is recovering in the ICU with a breathing tube this week. The surgeon used the term quadriplegic many times and associated it to a “Christopher Reeves” type injury. Since coming out of surgery Phillip can feel to his nipple line and has some tingling sensation in his arms and legs. Today, Tuesday, June 26 he had a flicker of muscle movement in his legs. The trauma surgeons said he has an INCOMPLETE spinal injury. Which means he CAN RECOVER SOME FUNCTION! Each person is different, but we all know Phil and that if he has the opportunity to improve he is mentally and physically strong enough to push the limits of what is possible. He will be in the ICU for about a week. They are planning to put a tracheostomy in (a hole in his neck for him to breathe out of) and a feeding tube in his stomach. Though these may feel like setbacks they are an intermediate measure to make sure he can breathe and eat and will help in the long run! After that he will go to a regular floor in the hospital and then we are hopeful he will head to Shepherd rehabilitation in Atlanta that specializes in brain and spine injuries. We have a long and hard journey ahead of us and your support and friendship in this time is invaluable to us. We are asking everyone prays for a full recovery because we know anything you ask God, in faith, He will provide. Any financial donations are welcomed as kelly and Phil move through this trialing time. They won’t have income from Phil’s sign business, the hospital bills will add up, and whatever special equipment Phil needs will certainly be costly. So we so much appreciate any and all assistance financially, and really request that you pray fervently for a full recovery.


If you have a large donation, please contact Reagan Atkins [phone redacted] directly to avoid gofundme fees. Venmo/PayPal/Check/Bank Transfer all work. Your donation will be entered into gofundme manually so you will be able to see your impact!

Checks may be mailed to:
Kelly Hatcher
502 Jarrett Bay Drive
Carolina Beach, NC 28428