Michael Sheffield Recovery Fund
Donation protected
On October 25, 2016 my brother was severely injured at a martial arts gym in Norfolk, VA and he could use your help! His name is Michael Joel Sheffield and he is 29 years old. Michael became a gym member and has spent the past two years teaching martial arts to children and adults. He has always felt a calling to learn something that he could teach others. Michael found that teaching martial arts was a gift he could give to help others learn focus, self-control, self-esteem, and confidence. He found this especially rewarding with the younger children.
Michael was brought to the hospital by emergency personnel and was rushed into surgery to stabilize his neck and decompress his spine. He suffered a subluxation at C4 and C5 and this stretched and crushed his spinal cord. He came out of surgery with complete paralysis below the neck except he had very little gross movement in left arm. The movement in the left arm was very little, uncontrolled and couldn't defy gravity. Our family was informed that Michael would need to be placed on a ventilator and feeding tube and it was time to discuss an advanced directive with Michael as we may not be able to talk to him again.
Michael is a very focused and determined individual with a great spirit and is an inspiration to all that know him. Many of his life experiences as well as the qualities he has learned in martial arts over the years have prepared him to face this terrifying experience and disability head on. Michael spent the past two and a half weeks in neuro ICU and in the step down unit. Our family (David, Bobbi, Jeremiah, and Bethany) have been taking shifts around the clock so that he is never left alone. Over the past two weeks Michael has progressed more than the doctors expected despite being mentally and physically exhausted. Shockingly, he is almost completely weaned from the ventilator and is able to swallow food and liquid. If Michael is not sleeping, he is usually asking whoever is with him to help him work out the one arm he could once barely move. In just two weeks while being on a ventilator and recovering from the surgery and trauma to his system, Michael has trained the muscles in his arm to allow him to lift his hand up to his face. He is a fighter and is going to give this recovery everything he has.
Michael now sits in the step down unit and his doctors have approved his release to a spinal cord specialist rehab center. A very long story short, Michael needs to be at a rehab facility that has experience dealing with patients with this severe an injury. He does have an insurance policy but it is a marketplace insurance policy and at this point refuses to pay for out of network benefits although his doctors deem it medically necessary. They say that it is contractual and he can go in state to VCU once he is completely off the ventilator. VCU does have a spinal cord rehabilitation program but it does not have the funding that other specialty facilities have and therefore cannot offer the groundbreaking clinical trials and medical technology that exists. In response to the referral, the VCU Rehab Center indicated that they had received very few injuries this severe in their history.
My family and the doctors just want what is best for Michael and what is going to give him the best chance at the maximum level of recovery. Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA has accepted Michael and is known as "The Place Where Miracles Happen." As Michael's big sister, I pray constantly, but I want to spend my life knowing that I did everything I could to give my little brother the best chance he could have for a miracle. The self-pay discounted rate for Mike's rehab at Shepherd and the air ambulance travel to and from Shepherd is estimated to be approximately $200,000. My family alone is incapable of providing that kind of money up front to send him to Shepherd in addition to the other expenses we have already incurred and those unforeseen. Over the next six to eight weeks, we will make all of our homes wheelchair accessible and build an appropriate bedroom / bathroom in my parents’ home that can accommodate him with whatever level of recovery he has. This is one of the expenses that will hit our family and more are sure to come.
I am asking for your help! If you know my family, we are not ones to ask for help, especially financial help.
I have been reflecting on all the times Michael has asked me to scratch his nose or wipe his tears for him as he lays in the bed unable to do it for himself. As independent as Michael is, he needs our help scratching his nose and has no other choice but to ask for help. My family and I are humbled by this situation and are asking for your help. A gift of any amount, or a loan could help to make Shepherd Center a reality. We completely understand if you can't but I just need to know as his big sister that I did everything could and wasn't too proud to ask for help.
Checks can be written to:
Michael Sheffield Recovery Fund
2129 General Booth Blvd. #103-185
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
Thank you for your consideration and your prayers,
Bethany Sheffield Vaughan
Michael was brought to the hospital by emergency personnel and was rushed into surgery to stabilize his neck and decompress his spine. He suffered a subluxation at C4 and C5 and this stretched and crushed his spinal cord. He came out of surgery with complete paralysis below the neck except he had very little gross movement in left arm. The movement in the left arm was very little, uncontrolled and couldn't defy gravity. Our family was informed that Michael would need to be placed on a ventilator and feeding tube and it was time to discuss an advanced directive with Michael as we may not be able to talk to him again.
Michael is a very focused and determined individual with a great spirit and is an inspiration to all that know him. Many of his life experiences as well as the qualities he has learned in martial arts over the years have prepared him to face this terrifying experience and disability head on. Michael spent the past two and a half weeks in neuro ICU and in the step down unit. Our family (David, Bobbi, Jeremiah, and Bethany) have been taking shifts around the clock so that he is never left alone. Over the past two weeks Michael has progressed more than the doctors expected despite being mentally and physically exhausted. Shockingly, he is almost completely weaned from the ventilator and is able to swallow food and liquid. If Michael is not sleeping, he is usually asking whoever is with him to help him work out the one arm he could once barely move. In just two weeks while being on a ventilator and recovering from the surgery and trauma to his system, Michael has trained the muscles in his arm to allow him to lift his hand up to his face. He is a fighter and is going to give this recovery everything he has.
Michael now sits in the step down unit and his doctors have approved his release to a spinal cord specialist rehab center. A very long story short, Michael needs to be at a rehab facility that has experience dealing with patients with this severe an injury. He does have an insurance policy but it is a marketplace insurance policy and at this point refuses to pay for out of network benefits although his doctors deem it medically necessary. They say that it is contractual and he can go in state to VCU once he is completely off the ventilator. VCU does have a spinal cord rehabilitation program but it does not have the funding that other specialty facilities have and therefore cannot offer the groundbreaking clinical trials and medical technology that exists. In response to the referral, the VCU Rehab Center indicated that they had received very few injuries this severe in their history.
My family and the doctors just want what is best for Michael and what is going to give him the best chance at the maximum level of recovery. Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA has accepted Michael and is known as "The Place Where Miracles Happen." As Michael's big sister, I pray constantly, but I want to spend my life knowing that I did everything I could to give my little brother the best chance he could have for a miracle. The self-pay discounted rate for Mike's rehab at Shepherd and the air ambulance travel to and from Shepherd is estimated to be approximately $200,000. My family alone is incapable of providing that kind of money up front to send him to Shepherd in addition to the other expenses we have already incurred and those unforeseen. Over the next six to eight weeks, we will make all of our homes wheelchair accessible and build an appropriate bedroom / bathroom in my parents’ home that can accommodate him with whatever level of recovery he has. This is one of the expenses that will hit our family and more are sure to come.
I am asking for your help! If you know my family, we are not ones to ask for help, especially financial help.
I have been reflecting on all the times Michael has asked me to scratch his nose or wipe his tears for him as he lays in the bed unable to do it for himself. As independent as Michael is, he needs our help scratching his nose and has no other choice but to ask for help. My family and I are humbled by this situation and are asking for your help. A gift of any amount, or a loan could help to make Shepherd Center a reality. We completely understand if you can't but I just need to know as his big sister that I did everything could and wasn't too proud to ask for help.
Checks can be written to:
Michael Sheffield Recovery Fund
2129 General Booth Blvd. #103-185
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
Thank you for your consideration and your prayers,
Bethany Sheffield Vaughan
Organizer and beneficiary
Michael Sheffield
Organizer
Virginia Beach, VA
Bethany Vaughan
Beneficiary