I didn’t Want to Write This Post. Austin’s Recovery Update

Relax. Don’t Panic.

Nothing bad has happened to Austin. In fact, he’s still making good progress on his rehab. 😊

I know the title may sound a bit ominous. It’s not so much that, but that I don’t really like writing this post.

But it is a necessary part of this whole process.

What Do You Need?

When Austin had his accident (see Category Austin’s Recovery if you’ve missed this), many people asked What do you need?

Well…obviously first and foremost, we needed prayers. And we got those! We received such an outpouring of prayer that we’ve been overwhelmed at them! And incredibly thankful.

We knew there would be financial needs, but we hesitated to say, because 1) we didn’t know the extent of the needs or the therapies, and 2) we anticipated Austin’s short term disability to cover his needs once he left the hospitals.

Not what we wanted to hear

Unfortunately, Austin is not eligible for short term disability, because he’s two months short of his 1-year work anniversary. This means that, even though he will be out of work for months due to his injury, he won’t receive compensation from his full-time job.

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He will be receiving some from his part-time job, a percentage based on the hours he worked, but this obviously is not sufficient to live on, since this was his side job. This comes from worker’s comp, and I’m not sure how long they will compensate him. His work (his full time job) requires a full medical release before permitting him to return, and the job is physically demanding. With his injuries, it will be quite awhile before he can return there.

Why Wait?

While we could have immediately done a Go Fund Me type fundraiser, I wanted to wait until we knew. Now we do, and so I’m putting it out there.

Andrew helped organize the FreeFund account. We opted to use that as opposed to Go Fund Me, since it does not charge fees to use it or accept monies. The 5% that Go Fund Me charges does add up, and I always want my money to go for what I intend it to be used for. (Payment processing providers always do charge their fees, so there is the typical 2.9% I believe).

Free Fund

FreeFund actually will donate a small amount to the fundraiser if we get enough shares. Even if you’re not able to contribute anything monetarily, if you’d consider sharing the fundraiser (from the link), that helps.

There’s no pressure to give anything. Honestly, not at all. What has kept us going is your prayers. What we still need are your prayers. The encouraging notes, Bible verses, and messages really do make a difference. We all tend to get overwhelmed (ok–especially me), and I can’t tell you how many times a simple comment has elevated my mood throughout this whole ordeal.

It’s back and forth almost every day. But we are making steady progress, and that’s what’s important!

THIS IS THE LINK FOR THE FUNDRAISER.

It’s called Austin’s Trauma Recovery

This is what the site will look like. We have created a separate bank account that will ONLY go towards Austin’s living expenses, meds, and recovery-related needs.

❤️‍🩹 The goal is to have about a six-month amount for living expenses. He could have more time before he can return to work. They could not give a definite timeline–only that healing will be slow on his shoulder and arm. So, it’s a little open ended, and the goal reflects that.

PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

Apparently the default setting on FreeFunder is set to where you “make a donation” to them of 9%. 🤦‍♀️

It’s supposed to be free, and it is, but you have to click the part where it says + $$ to FreeFunder (see the second pic).

Sorry about all of the confusion.

You have pay attention always it seems! 👀

Recovery

Right now, it’s anticipated that Austin will recover to walking along a normal timeline. He’s using the cane now, and becoming quite adept at managing it! He’s always been motivated!

The shoulder and arm on his right side aren’t functional, so he’s on no-weight-bearing on that side. That means no driving, no working, no nothing on that side. That’s what they are telling him will take months. That’s doctors, physical and occupational therapists advising him that.

Thankfully, Austin is young. He’s strong, and he doesn’t like to let grass grow under his feet for long. Once he’s able, he will do his part. We can see that with his walking, and with his progress since his accident. When it hurts, it hurts, and he knows something’s off. Yesterday afternoon, something felt off, and he told his nurse. They took him seriously and got an X-ray. The doctors today are comparing the new findings with previous X-rays to see if there’s a change. 🩻

Don’t stop praying! If you do only one thing, make it be to pray for Austin’s whole body recovery.

Please

Please check out the fundraiser. At the very least, we’d appreciate it if you would share it on your social media or anywhere (email, or wherever you come up with) using THIS LINK 😊

Thanks to everyone! We’ve received a few donations from some friends/family, outside of the fundraiser, and we are putting those towards these expenses.

Blessing to everyone!

Laurie and Family

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Can you do me a favor if you end up making a donation?

We have friends telling us that FreeFunder is charging them tax or something. Will you please give me details of this so we can change the fundraiser if necessary? The whole point of using FreeFunder was that it was free of platform fees.

Please email me here!!

We do want to know!!