Bubba Walker Scholarship Fund
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The Bubba Walker Scholarship Fund helps students fulfill their academic goals in memory of Bubba Walker, a hard working student from Carrizo Springs Texas who was full of life.
BUBBA'S STORY
Life is not always fair and no one knew that any better than Bubba Walker. For five and a half years he faced obstacles that most of us take for granted. He faced each day with a smile on his face and a positive attitude because he believed with all of his heart that things would work out and he would overcome all of his challenges.
Edward William "Bubba” Walker is the younger brother of Chase Walker. Chase and Bubba grew up in the small, south Texas rural community, of Carrizo Springs. While growing up, both boys had the opportunity to play football, basketball, and golf. They were very active members of 4-H and FFA programs. They raised steers, showed chickens, hogs and horses. They participated in youth rodeos. Both boys competed on a county, state and national level where they won numerous awards. After graduating from high school both boys chose to attend Texas A & M University.
Bubba was a senior at A&M and had 16 hours left before graduation. He came home at Christmas in 2005 complaining of headaches. We were referred to a neurologist and told that he had chiari malformation (a condition in which brain tissue extends into your spinal canal). During the first surgery he contracted bacterial meningitis. He was treated for six weeks and the blood work came back clean. During this time he was taking steroids and they masked everything. Returning to the hospital in an emergency situation, it was discovered that Bubba had relapsed and the meningitis was very far advanced and he was within hours of nearly losing his life. Meningitis causes scaring to the ventricles in the brain therefore he had to have 3 shunts put in to drain the spinal fluid from his brain. Bubba was only one out of a dozen people in the United States with a shunt in his 4th ventricle. Your cranial nerves sit on top of the 4th ventricle and when the shunt was put in and started to drain, his cranial nerves collapsed. He couldn’t close his eyes, his eyes couldn’t move side to side or up and down, he couldn’t move his nose or eyebrows and his beautiful smile was gone. The meningitis didn’t damage his brain in any way nor did it damage his sight or hearing. He defied all odds.
During all this time it was one setback after another going from the hospital to a rehab facility. A feeding tube was never put in right and peritonitis set in. His corneas were damaged because his eyes would dry out. The ball joints in his jaw completely dissolved because of the steroids. He had aspiration pneumonia numerous times from throwing up a pint of stomach bile on a daily basis. Because of losing stomach bile daily his electrolytes became unbalanced. After a year and half we were able to convince the doctors to fix his esophageal sphincter and all the throwing up stopped. Things were starting to look up and then bam we would have another setback.
In July 2010, he had to have spine surgery. They put rods and plates in his cervical spine. After the surgery he was left totally paralyzed. A month later he was admitted into Craig Hospital where things would turn around. In the ten months Bubba was in Colorado he worked extremely hard and was able to gain all mobility back. He was fortunate enough to have excellent therapist and fantastic doctors. During his time there he had numerous eye and jaw surgeries. Bubba’s eyes would now close, move from side to side and up and down. The corneas were in good health and he was excited about getting a new driver’s license. His jaw was functioning and enjoyed being able to eat real food again. After 56 surgeries and being intubated numerous times Bubba’s vocal cords were damaged. His way of communication was to use a board with the alphabet on it and spell his conversation out. He was very fast at it and enjoyed having conversations. It never slowed him down.
Everything was coming together. In June of 2011, Bubba was transferred to a rehab facility in Dripping Springs, Texas. During this time he was getting Botox shots in his vocal cords which allowed him to have a voice for a short period of time. After he was given his shot, on the morning of October 12, the doctor told him the next step would be another surgery. The doctor would go in and put a spacer in his vocal cords and his voice would be permanently back. He was so excited. He couldn’t wait to call everybody and let them know. The main side effect to a Botox shot in the vocal cords is your throat could swell up and you couldn’t breathe. That evening around 6 our worst nightmare came true. His throat began to swell. We meet EMS halfway and they transported him to the hospital. They had difficulty inserting a trach and therefore he went without oxygen for too long. They next morning a CAT scan showed that he was brain dead and was being kept alive on a ventilator. Bubba had a living will and had made his wishes clear early on that he didn’t ever want to live like this. Our family honored his wishes. Bubba died on October 13, 2011.
Bubba lived his life to the fullest. He was a very kind and caring person who would give you the shirt off his back. He was a very talented young man who could build anything with his hands. It could be metal or wood. He could fix anything and make it work. He felt that an education was essential in this day and time. After returning to Texas he looked so forward to going back to school and finishing his last 16 hours of his degree. He didn’t care how long it took. Bubba’s classmates and Chase are the ones who set up scholarship funds in Bubba’s name. So far we have given 7 scholarships to deserving individuals totaling $15,000.
Bubba never once asked, why me. He never felt sorry for himself and never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him either. We asked him if he blamed anyone for what had happened, and he said no. He said that everything happened for a reason and someday we would know why he was chosen. He always felt like God was using him as an example; as an angel.
www.facebook.com/BubbaWalkersFund
BUBBA'S STORY
Life is not always fair and no one knew that any better than Bubba Walker. For five and a half years he faced obstacles that most of us take for granted. He faced each day with a smile on his face and a positive attitude because he believed with all of his heart that things would work out and he would overcome all of his challenges.
Edward William "Bubba” Walker is the younger brother of Chase Walker. Chase and Bubba grew up in the small, south Texas rural community, of Carrizo Springs. While growing up, both boys had the opportunity to play football, basketball, and golf. They were very active members of 4-H and FFA programs. They raised steers, showed chickens, hogs and horses. They participated in youth rodeos. Both boys competed on a county, state and national level where they won numerous awards. After graduating from high school both boys chose to attend Texas A & M University.
Bubba was a senior at A&M and had 16 hours left before graduation. He came home at Christmas in 2005 complaining of headaches. We were referred to a neurologist and told that he had chiari malformation (a condition in which brain tissue extends into your spinal canal). During the first surgery he contracted bacterial meningitis. He was treated for six weeks and the blood work came back clean. During this time he was taking steroids and they masked everything. Returning to the hospital in an emergency situation, it was discovered that Bubba had relapsed and the meningitis was very far advanced and he was within hours of nearly losing his life. Meningitis causes scaring to the ventricles in the brain therefore he had to have 3 shunts put in to drain the spinal fluid from his brain. Bubba was only one out of a dozen people in the United States with a shunt in his 4th ventricle. Your cranial nerves sit on top of the 4th ventricle and when the shunt was put in and started to drain, his cranial nerves collapsed. He couldn’t close his eyes, his eyes couldn’t move side to side or up and down, he couldn’t move his nose or eyebrows and his beautiful smile was gone. The meningitis didn’t damage his brain in any way nor did it damage his sight or hearing. He defied all odds.
During all this time it was one setback after another going from the hospital to a rehab facility. A feeding tube was never put in right and peritonitis set in. His corneas were damaged because his eyes would dry out. The ball joints in his jaw completely dissolved because of the steroids. He had aspiration pneumonia numerous times from throwing up a pint of stomach bile on a daily basis. Because of losing stomach bile daily his electrolytes became unbalanced. After a year and half we were able to convince the doctors to fix his esophageal sphincter and all the throwing up stopped. Things were starting to look up and then bam we would have another setback.
In July 2010, he had to have spine surgery. They put rods and plates in his cervical spine. After the surgery he was left totally paralyzed. A month later he was admitted into Craig Hospital where things would turn around. In the ten months Bubba was in Colorado he worked extremely hard and was able to gain all mobility back. He was fortunate enough to have excellent therapist and fantastic doctors. During his time there he had numerous eye and jaw surgeries. Bubba’s eyes would now close, move from side to side and up and down. The corneas were in good health and he was excited about getting a new driver’s license. His jaw was functioning and enjoyed being able to eat real food again. After 56 surgeries and being intubated numerous times Bubba’s vocal cords were damaged. His way of communication was to use a board with the alphabet on it and spell his conversation out. He was very fast at it and enjoyed having conversations. It never slowed him down.
Everything was coming together. In June of 2011, Bubba was transferred to a rehab facility in Dripping Springs, Texas. During this time he was getting Botox shots in his vocal cords which allowed him to have a voice for a short period of time. After he was given his shot, on the morning of October 12, the doctor told him the next step would be another surgery. The doctor would go in and put a spacer in his vocal cords and his voice would be permanently back. He was so excited. He couldn’t wait to call everybody and let them know. The main side effect to a Botox shot in the vocal cords is your throat could swell up and you couldn’t breathe. That evening around 6 our worst nightmare came true. His throat began to swell. We meet EMS halfway and they transported him to the hospital. They had difficulty inserting a trach and therefore he went without oxygen for too long. They next morning a CAT scan showed that he was brain dead and was being kept alive on a ventilator. Bubba had a living will and had made his wishes clear early on that he didn’t ever want to live like this. Our family honored his wishes. Bubba died on October 13, 2011.
Bubba lived his life to the fullest. He was a very kind and caring person who would give you the shirt off his back. He was a very talented young man who could build anything with his hands. It could be metal or wood. He could fix anything and make it work. He felt that an education was essential in this day and time. After returning to Texas he looked so forward to going back to school and finishing his last 16 hours of his degree. He didn’t care how long it took. Bubba’s classmates and Chase are the ones who set up scholarship funds in Bubba’s name. So far we have given 7 scholarships to deserving individuals totaling $15,000.
Bubba never once asked, why me. He never felt sorry for himself and never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him either. We asked him if he blamed anyone for what had happened, and he said no. He said that everything happened for a reason and someday we would know why he was chosen. He always felt like God was using him as an example; as an angel.
www.facebook.com/BubbaWalkersFund
Organizer
Stephanie Sage
Organizer
Collinsville, TX