Send Love & Support to MPA's Stepbrother!

[JanMarie13]

My stepbrother, Denny Coleman, had an accident at work on Thursday.  He is a contractor and was working on a 2nd-story roof when he slipped.  He slipped down to the porch roof and about half landed on his feet there, but then he tumbled backwards and fell to the ground, landing upside down in the shoulder blade area.  The impact badly broke his back, and crushed his spinal cord between the T8 and T9 vertebrae.   He also fractured his left wrist.  He was life-flighted to the best hospital around here.

After 6 hours of surgery on Friday, the surgeon told us that he cleaned out bone fragments and used 2 rods to fasten everything back into alignment.  He pointed out that his spinal cord was *not* severed, and they did not fuse it.  This gives us a little glimmer of hope that someday it will magically heal itself!  However, he has not had feeling in his legs since the fall on Thursday, and the surgeon told us that we should be prepared for Denny to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.  He basically said he did everything he could do, and it is now between Denny and God.

Therefore, I am reaching out to my Marlin Crawler community!  I did post in the prayer request thread, but I wanted to start a special thread.  Since Denny did not have medical insurance (as a contractor you have to carry liability insurance, which protects the homeowner's property, but it does not cover medical bills), we will be starting a fund for him sometime today, and I will post that information here as soon as I get it.  In the meantime, you can send your thoughts, love, hope, prayers, and support to Denny by going to:

http://www.carepages.com

Click on Visit.  It will ask you to register, which is quick and easy and free.  Once you're all signed up, just look for his care page.  It is:

dennycoleman

We are all so proud of Denny's strength and will power!  He has had such a positive attitude so far.  Many of you already know that my stepmother is battling lung cancer right now.  This is Denny's mother, and I believe he is being especially strong for her.  He is more worried about his mother than himself.

Denny is an independent contractor and an extremely hard worker.  He is the "strong, silent type" and lives alone in an older 2-story home.  He LOVES his german shepherd, and his motorcycle.  This is going to be a huge life change for him, but he has a great support system behind him.  Please help me pray for a miracle for Denny, and please feel free to stop by his Care Page and leave him a message!

Thanks! 

[BLACKDOG]

[JanMarie13]

Thanks to those of you who have left Denny comments!  He enjoys reading them and always smiles when he does!  He's blown away by the number of people leaving him messages on his CarePage, and I know it helps to raise his spirits!

He has been in a lot of pain because they removed his morphine drip (and who DOESN'T need one of those, eh??).  The hospital they life-flighted him to is an hour and 15 minutes away, and now they are going to be moving him to a rehab facility in Philly, which is over 3 hours away.  BUT, they said it's one of the best in the country, so we're stoked about the possibilities it will open for him.

I guess we're waiting to set up a fund until we find out what all sorts of things he is eligible for.  Denny needs talked into accepting any sort of benefits, he said they should be reserved for people who need them more than he does!  We told him, TOO BAD!  haha.  We're helping him apply for Medical Assistance and anything else that he might be eligible for.

I'll keep you all updated.  Thanks again!! 

[JanMarie13]

Hello everyone!  We just got back from visiting Denny.  He is still in Danville until Tuesday or Wednesday.  They are waiting for the rehab in Philly to call and let them know when a bed will open up, but they figure he will be moved to the rehab on Tuesday or Wednesday.

His spirits are still good, and today his puppy got to come and see him!!!  It was wonderful!!  His business partner (and very good friend) has had his dog at his house since the accident, as well as his truck, and he said Denny's dog goes out and just sits and stares at Denny's truck.  Awwwwww!  So as you can imagine he was QUITE thrilled to see Denny today.

There has been no changes in Denny's condition, so at this point the rehab plans to teach him how to live life in a wheelchair, basically.  But please keep praying for a miracle!

We had a family meeting at his house today with a handful of his contractor friends.  We are getting plans around for how to remodel the downstairs of his house.  We set cans up around town and are getting good donations that way!  He was in a pool league, so there are several local pool tournament benefits in the works! 

If you would like to make a donation to the Denny Coleman Fund, please feel free to PayPal them to [email protected].  Be sure to put your name on it so we know who you are!!  Don't feel like you have to break the bank....any size of donation is welcome and accepted!  We hope that he will get some medical assistance for his medical bills, but there will be lots of expenses going into remodeling his house to make it wheelchair accessible, and I'm sure lots of things we haven't even thought of yet.

Thank you to everyone who has asked about Denny and posted on his CarePage!  Please see my top post in this thread for information on viewing his CarePage, and please don't hesitate to get in there and leave him a comment.  He is touched by the amount of love and support he is getting, and I know it's helping!!

Here is a picture of Denny visiting with his doggy Shep today!  And the bottom pic is from a picnic at my Dad's house earlier this year. 

[JanMarie13]

We now have an official Denny Coleman Foundation PayPal address!  AND we're selling "I Support Denny Coleman" bracelets! 

You can get a Denny Coleman bracelet with any donation of $5 or more!!  You can now PayPal your donation to:


[email protected]


If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to contact me!  Thanks!! 

[JanMarie13]

Hey everyone!!      For those of you following Denny's story, he made an update to his care page today by himself!!     It's just really nice to finally see him make his own update.  He's so far away now in the rehab hospital so he won't have near as many visitors, and he'll have way more time for laptop playing. 


From Denny's own update:

it is a nice place here. the food is a lot better than when i was in geisinger. i have rehab 3 hrs a day monday-friday. they are challenging me which is good. i've been working on my balance and transfers. tranfers are moving from my wheelchair to other places and then back. also i have been working with weights to try to get some of my strength back.

i am staying positive and i hope that someday i will be able to walk once again. i am in some pain, but the meds help with that making it bearable. i don't skip on my pain meds, that's for sure!! it helps knowing that so many people care about me. i'll do my best while i'm here. my broken wrist slows me down a little, but not too much. my therapists say that i am doing extremely well especially for only being here for less than a week. i have an electric wheelchair now which is nice. it gives me freedom to roam around the hospital. there are two different areas that are outside i can go to. one is a little lounge on the 2nd floor mostly for smoking. the other is on the roof where i spend a lot of time. there is an open area to the sky and a part that is under a canopy. its nice to get some smoggy air and sunshine. mostly i go up there to warm up. it is usually quite chilly in the hospital. i wear a sweatshirt just about all the time. well i am going back to my room to rest. i would like to thank everyone again for all the support. i will be updating soon. talk to ya later.........denny

[BLACKDOG]

Hey everyone!!      For those of you following Denny's story, he made an update to his care page today by himself!!     It's just really nice to finally see him make his own update.  He's so far away now in the rehab hospital so he won't have near as many visitors, and he'll have way more time for laptop playing. 


From Denny's own update:

well tell him to get his butt over to Marlin   We'll make sure he's entertained!