Sam’s Story:
Our world was turned upside down on Saturday, March 5th, 2022, when our youngest son, Samuel, who just celebrated his 15th birthday was involved in a very horrific car accident and sustained a traumatic brain injury. He was unresponsive after impact and rescued on scene by the local emt/fire department and transferred to Monument Health center , there, Sam received the best care in the pediatric ICU. After various scans and tests, it was decided that it was in Sam’s best interest he should stay sedated to let his brain rest. He was put on a ventilator, iv, and had a stomach tube inserted to help with gases. His first night was about survival, they kept him comfortable, quiet and sedated to help his body rest. All we could do was sit by his side and pray.
The morning of March 6th, Sam had a new CT scan, with good results, so the decision was made to start weaning him off sedation and try to get him to wake up. He began to respond to some verbal commands, like squeezing a hand, but he wouldn’t or couldn't open his eyes. By midafternoon, the decision was made to take out the ventilation tube in hopes that he would wake up. Unfortunately, he did not open his eyes. His vitals stayed stable and he started moving his arms and his legs sparodically ,he also started making grunting sounds, and definatly did not like when dad tickled his toes. as of today Sam has not yet been concious or opened his eyes. We know our vibrant, active, amazing son is still in there, he just needs help coming back to us.
Sam's had many ups and downs during his short stay so far in hospital. He's had surgery for a feeding tube, therapy for a collapsed lung, antibiotics for infections just to say the least. Over the next few weeks the goal in hospital will be to hopefully get Sam to wake up and respond, second will be to get him medically cleared so we can work on the physical and ocupational therapy needed to help him come back to us. The long term diagnosis will be that he will have to be admitted to a rehabiltation site that specializes in adolescent childern with traumatic brain injuries. These sites are located outside of South Dakota, and current estimates by the medical staff are that if all goes well he will require anywhere from 4 -6 months or more of intense rehabilation work.
We are raising funds in honor of Sam and his family who will now need support for the next steps in his journey. Loss of income will happen as he will require his mom at his side for this. All contributions will be made with the understanding that the family has complete discretion over the donated funds, with all proceeds raised to be used in his medical treatment some which will include room and board during rehab, transportaion to and from medical appts, medical equipment and since some of his needs are unfortunately unknown they will apply for whatever lies ahead on this long road .
Our son Sam is a special young man, he is an honour roll student,and part of student council, he is on the Douglas cross crountry and track and field team, school band, the JROTC, he is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and teaches it, he is active in church and the South Dakota youth hunting, on top of all these activities he works part time at Mcdonalds. Sam is a best friend , a LIttle brother to two doting big brothers, a great cousin, babysitter, joke teller and peacemaker who loves funky socks! Sam has many goals and dreams and we are here to support him in reaching them.
We have decided since Sam is a distance runner, we will refer to this fundraiser and journey as “SAM'S MARATHON” and keep cheering for him until we reach the finish line. "The marathon of a thousand miles begins with a single step – today is day one." Our little boy, Sam, is one loved teenager and together we will run this marathon with him!
