Chapter 8 (5/25/14)

By | May 25, 2014

So much to tell all of you – we’ll try to make it brief.

  1. Jesse is currently at Holy Family Long-Term Acute Care Hospital in Des Plaines, IL – while here the last 5 weeks his wounds have greatly improved and he has gotten much stronger. He is eating a little more than before, but not full meals yet. He can now twitch his fingers on demand, only small twitches at this point, but it shows there is some nerve activity going on.  We are hoping with the right treatment and physical therapy that a lot more movement and sensation comes back.
  2. He clearly needs more function than what he has now to live a fulfilling, happy life, so the real good news is that he has been approved, and accepted, to go to Kennedy Kreiger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.  KKI is led by Dr. John McDonald, the doctor who cared for Christopher Reeves as well as Patrick Rummerfield, the world’s first fully recovered quadriplegic. (Pat is also one of Jesse’s advocates and mentors, talk about having a great person in your corner, I didn’t even have to ask, he just stepped up to help Jesse because he’s that kind of amazing person.)  Dr. McDonald invented the functional electronic stimulation exercise equipment being used by leading rehab centers around the world and at KKI they will use it extensively to give Jesse the most intensive physical therapy available anywhere.  We are so grateful to all the people who have helped us get Jesse accepted and approved.
  3. We still need to figure out HOW he is going to get there on June 9th since he is not in good enough shape to just wheel onto a commercial airline, could be a $30,000 air ambulance flight from what we are hearing, but we are going to be exploring any and all options this coming week.  [if anyone on this email has any suggestions, connections or ideas, please let us know, we need to identify some mode of transportation for him asap, we will do whatever it takes to get him there, we owe it to him after what he’s been through these past seven months!]
  4. We were blown away by the generosity and compassion of the team at Christy Webber Landscapes.  They are the largest landscaping firm in the city of Chicago and one of the largest in the entire country – yet you could not find more down-to-earth and genuine people.  From the collection their employees took up to donate to Jesse’s Special Needs Trust to their offer to come build him wheelchair ramps before we bring him home – I and my family will always be thankful and indebted to all of you.  (BTW, they are also an amazing company to hire for any commercial or residential landscaping project in the city or suburbs!)
  5. We are also equally indebted to and appreciative to all of you who have donated your money and/or time to helping us with Jesse.  His HelpHopeLive.org Campaign fund is over halfway to being able to buy him a wheelchair accessible truck!  (Go to helphopelive.org and search for “Jesse Sternberg” to get to his page.) Even if we have to use some of those funds to fly him to Baltimore, he will get his truck when he’s ready and able.  If my joke on my last update regarding fundraising offended anyone, my sincere apologies.  We are truly appreciative of all the people who have helped us in every way and although we have to continue to keep our hands out because his needs are so great, that should in no way indicate that we are anything less than grateful, appreciate and honored by all those who have helped and will help in the future.  (I owe many of you thank you letters, many of which are actually written and I just haven’t had the time to mail them, but they are coming, thanks for your patience.)
  6. That’s the quick update – you probably won’t get another one until we are settled in at KKI for a few days.  Please feel free to contact me if you have ideas or connections that can help Jesse get to Baltimore or help him in any other way – we are forever indebted to all if you who have helped and continue to help us to get Jesse his life back.

Thank you – Dave Sternberg on behalf of Jesse, Kathy and Elliot.

PS: Some of you may be getting this as your first update – all past updates are on his web site below.  Some of you may be getting multiple copies of this, sorry about that, don’t have one good list to send to with a simple “click all”.

PSS: I have no way of knowing who I am sending this to, please forward to anyone you think could possibly help Jesse or knows someone who could, thank you.