Jacob Bury Recovery Fund
JAKE IS OKAY, ALERT AND RECOVERING... BUT HE NEEDS OUR SUPPORT
On Tuesday morning, June 26th, Jake along with several of his youth group students were on the second day of their annual scuba diving trip off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea. Jake loves doing this every year and the trip is the pinnacle summer event for so many Aramco kids.
Upon entering the water to begin his dive, Jake was struck by the boat's propeller and suffered significant wounds to his right leg. Jake was rushed back to port, where an ambulance took him to Jeddah for surgery.
Unfortunately, the doctors had to remove Jake's right leg above the knee. Jake is currently stable and resting. However, his journey in addressing this situation is just beginning. A long road to recovery, rehabilitation, and unforeseen medical costs lie ahead.
WHAT JAKE NEEDS FROM US
Jake has positively impacted so many lives. We would like to acknowledge the overwhelming support from Jake's students, friends, colleagues, and Aramco. Please continue to pray for Jake's full and speedy recovery. Many of you of have asked how you can help. We are thankful that Aramco is providing for Jake's immediate needs while in Saudi Arabia, however accessing the best care for future surgeries, rehab, and equipment will be expensive.
ALL FUNDS RAISED GO EXCLUSIVELY TO JAKE’S MEDICAL NEEDS
Most importantly, we would like to acknowledge the overwhelming support from Jake's students, friends, colleagues, and Aramco. Please continue to pray for Jake's full and speedy recovery.
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UPDATES
|| 8/06/2018 - 1930 MST|| Jake is enjoying his recovery in Dhahran and slowly getting back to normal: spending time at the student center and getting back into a daily routine. Last weekend was a weekend of firsts. First time driving, first time in the water, and first time throwing a frisbee! 
|| 7/17/2018 - 0149 GMT+2 || Jake had a great time watching the World Cup Final with his students at the Student Center yesterday evening. Jake continues to be active in working towards his recovery. He has been doing PT at home with his Mom and brother Caleb coaching him everyday. There have been ongoing medical appointments and things are moving in a good direction. Again, thanks for everything, ALL of the support has been nothing short of amazing!
|| 7/12/2018 - 1638 MDT || Jake is continuing his recovery back in Dhahran. The main goal currently is to reduce the swelling in the residual limb and he has already seen some progress. He has been awarded a new and more suitable house form Aramco, which he appreciates very much! The move is still in progress, but a big shout out to all the people who have already lended a hand!
The food train has been an absolute blessing and he is eating quite well! The best news of all is that his Mom (Robbin) and Caleb (his brother) have arrived to Saudi!
|| 7/7/2018 - 2200 MDT || Jake is starting to feel more at home again in his community. He's very happy to be back and has enjoyed catching up with a few people and slowly getting back into a more normal routine. Aramco is in the process of finding him a more suitable living arrangement as well, something that is a single-floor. Yes, he also went back today to teach his first fitness class! Here are a few pics from him driving with a colleague to look for a new place as well as him with his fitness class. 
|| 7/4/2018 - 1800 MDT || Jake is SUPER happy to be back in Dhahran in his community! However, the heat is NO JOKE over there and forgetting your sunglasses doesn't make it any easier on a 110+ degree day! (Pic below) He's very happy to be back in an environment where he is familiar with the medical staff that is treating him. He is also very thankful for the meal train that has been initiated for him (link: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/zv21gd ). More to come later and he's still not quite ready for visitors, but thinks that next week may be the week.
|| 7/3/2018 - 1000 MDT || Jake has safely made it back to his community in Dhahran! It's amazing that he was able to move himself so early. He told me that it was pretty wild to think that he was undergoing surgery for the amputation of his leg less than 5 days ago, and he was now using crutches to move across the tarmac and board a plane! It took a tremendous amount of energy for him, so he is still resting quite a bit, but Jake is excited to start seeing everyone soon! Now that he is back in his home community, they have organized meals for him which he is beyond excited about! Pics to come later!
|| 7/2/2018 - 1400 MDT || I (Caleb) spoke with Jake earlier today and he is ON THE MOVE! He departed the hospital in Jeddah earlier today and is on the plane on the way back to Dhahran! He is SUPER excited to be back in the community and to continue this road to recovery. He asked me to share a few pictures of him on the move today. More to come soon with his updates, and I don't know when he'll be ready to start seeing visitors, but I know everyone is anxious to see him. I'll be sure to let everyone know as soon as he feels up to it. BTW - can you believe how good he already is on crutches?!?!
BTW - Yes, I realize that some of the photos are sideways :) I'll eventually figure out how to get them straightened out without cropping out half of the photo! 
|| 7/1/2018 - 1600 MDT || I (Caleb) spoke with Jake a few times today and he has a lot of positive news he would like to share! He has a few pictures to share as well. The first picture is of Jake cleaning himself up a bit, getting his hair washed and just sitting up for a while! The second is of him learning to balance himself on crutches and moving around, a LOT! The third is of him receiving his latest blood transfusion. Which, we have also received the results from, and his levels are stable enough now for a short term air travel back to the hospital in Dhahran (where he lives and his community is). He is hoping to get fly there tomorrow pending any other complications! As always, he is in great spirits despite the circumstances, and is SUPER thankful for the support. Again, huge shout out to Sarah who has not left his side and has been a tremendous advocate for Jake the last few days. Not to mention all the of support that Aramco and all of his friends/family are helping with behind the scenes .
|| 7/1/2018 - 0400 MDT || "You got to Move it Move it" is the theme of Jake's day today! He called me (Caleb) this morning to inform me that he was moving under his own power with crutches. He was able to get out of the bed and do a little bathing (which we know both Jake and Sarah were grateful for). His energy levels are much higher today than yesterday. His body has accepted both blood transfusions that they gave him over the last 30 hours, which takes a lot of time and requires very frequent monitoring making it tough for Jake to rest. He is moving more towards stability Pics to come soon!
|| 6/30/2018 - 1000 MDT || Jeremy (Jakes brother) spoke with Jake this morning. We are all really impressed that he is up and moving! He was able to get out of his bed yesterday and got to start working on his balance. Jake said, "It's a little weird, my body has a new center of gravity now". It was a LOT of effort for him to be up and moving yesterday. Today, he has been taking a little rest from all that work, and has his focus set clearly on catching up on all the World Cup games that he's been missing! Here's a photo of Jake's current status. 
|| 6/29/2018 - 1100 MDT || Caleb spoke with Jake this morning and he is up and moving! He has been making great progress, which none of use every doubted that he would for a second. They were able to take the catheter out this morning (which Jake is thankful for) and he is starting to move around. His spirit is unbreakable and unbelievably positive. Also, he wanted to share a few photos for everyone. He also wanted to let people know he stood up under his OWN POWER using the bars that they installed. Sarah has been a rockstar as well and there with Jake supporting him and pushing him right along into the recovery! He's super thankful for everything and is doing his best to respond to messages as he has the time and energy.
|| 6/28/2018 - 2300 MDT || Caleb spoke with Jake today and he is in great spirits! He managed to get some good laughs in with Jake and talked about how he is doing. Jake said that the highlight of his day was a giant bag of cherries which he devoured! He is getting his appetite back and is becoming more stable every day. He is still not in a good position to accept visitors, but we all know that with his big personality, it won't be long! All of your support is appreciated and I'm certain that all of us together are making a big difference.
|| 6/28/2018 - 0800 MDT || The family spoke with Jake this morning. He is overwhelmed by all of the support and expressed his thanks for all of it. He know's its tough, but he asked for NO VISITORS at the current time. He is still very focused on the recovery and will advise the family when he is able to accept visitors. Thank you again for all of your support and understanding.
|| 6/27/2018 - 2300 MDT || Caleb (Jake's brother) spoke with Jake tonight. He's in great spirits and appreciates the overwhelming love and support from everyone. He is stable at the hospital in East Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He's been getting good rest and has someone with him 24/7. Please try not to overwhelm him as he's resting. The family will be providing accurate updates on this page.
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The family is managing the online side of this GoFundMe page. Due to the overwhelming support, it could take some time to reply or respond back to any emails sent through GoFundMe.