Team SuperMike: Road to Recovery

Michael Ungari is organizing this fundraiser.

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On September 6, 2015, I suffered a C5-C7 spinal cord injury by diving into shallow waters while boating with family and friends. My neck was broken, causing paralysis from my chest down. I was flown on "flight for life" to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. During my 60-day stint in the SICU at Lutheran General, 45 of those days I was comatose. I endured countless days and nights with high fevers, attached to a ventilator, a tracheotomy, and so many doctors and nurses not only taking care of me but my family. Through all of that, I was able to pull through.

From Luthern General, I began my next journey, to the Shirley Ryan Ability lab (previously known as Rehabilitation Insitute of Chicago "RIC") where I began to re-learn tasks such as motor skills, pronunciation, and other basic life tasks that we take for granted. This would be home for the next 6 months!

Over the past years, I’ve been doing rigorous therapy 2-3 times per week at Next Steps Therapy helping my body stay in shape!

With YOUR donations, I was able to go to the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama and receive stem cell therapy in 2018. The treatment consisted of me receiving stem cells from umbilical cords of healthy, newborn babies! The Stem Cell Institute utilizes cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells that are separated from the umbilical cord tissue. Among many other things, mesenchymal stem cells from the umbilical cord tissue are known to help reduce inflammation, modulate the immune system and secrete factors that may help various tissues throughout the body to regenerate. In a nutshell, the stem cells from the umbilical cords would be a catalyst to regenerate the nerve endings in my neck! My body was REALLY receptive to injections which is promising!

COVID has been such a nuisance with getting back down to Panama. But now it's safer for me to go I'M READY TO GET BACK DOWN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO CONTINUE TREATMENT!

YOUR donations make it possible for me to experience this treatment which I'm forever grateful for.