Joshua's recovery fund

First time in a chair after the accident.






On April 26th Joshua was playing with his friends at the park. He was walking on a bike rack when he fell and landed on the bike rack bar and injured his torso. At the time, the family believed he would be fine. After being ill all night they took him to the emergency room where an MRI showed that his pancreas had been severed. He was then rushed to UMC Trauma and then admitted to the ICU where he underwent an unsuccessful surgery to repair the pancreas.  After  two weeks in the ICU he was released to home care. In the meantime, drains have been placed in his abdomen to remove the pancreatic fluid from his body until the Dr.'s are ready to attempt another surgery to repair the pancreal duct.  The Dr.'s have warned the family that Joshua has a long road of recovery ahead of him, with many possible complications as well as multiple surgeries.  
How can you help? The goal of this recovery fund is to help ease some of the deep financial burdens that the Verhoeve's are and will be incurring in the year ahead. Their insurance is catastrophic only. What does this mean? It means that after an extremely high deductible is met, they must pay for all pharmaceutical's, medical supplies, and medical equipment of which there are many, all out of pocket.  One of the major complications of a pancreatic injury is the inability to absorb nutrition.  Therefore they need to purchase expensive nutritional supplements , also out of pocket.  All of these expenses are enough to put the most financially prepared family into bankruptcy and I am hoping people will find it in their hearts to donate what they can to help a family whose first and foremost priority should be getting their 14 year old son well, not wondering how to pay for it.

The Verhoeve's would like everyone to know that even in this terrible situation, they are humbled by the support, care and generosity that friends have shown them.  When they moved from South Africa , people and family asked how they would cope if tragedy or illness ever hit.  They can honestly say that their friends have embraced them like family, surrounding the whole family with comfort and care, so that they do not feel alone.  They would like to thank friends and friends of friends, that they do not even know for dinners, flowers, cards, childcare, gifts, games, visits and even a fantastic automated recliner which serves as a much more appropriate and comfortable bed than the couch Joshua  was sleeping on. All of the love and support has not only served to cheer Joshua in a difficult time, but eased the heartache as well.  I would also like to add on a personal note as I have watched this terrible situation unfold onto people who are very much my family, I have been astonished by the love and generosity of friends and strangers.  The world is full of good and caring people.  Thank you and please pass and share this to everyone you know! Thank you.