Oscar Omar Hernandez, a loving husband and father to five, is only 37 years-old, and desperately needs your help. Oscar was found unresponsive this past February and was quickly rushed to the ER, intubated, and put on life support. He was placed in a medically induced coma so his lungs could heal from a severe case of pneumonia. After 11 days, Oscar’s lungs had healed enough for him to be extubated, and he woke up from the coma and started rehabilitation. Oscar woke up weak, but able to talk and communicate; he is lucky he did not suffer any brain damage as he had at one point been clinically dead for 3 minutes. After weeks of therapy Oscar was not getting stronger, but was actually getting weaker, and unfortunately faced stroke-like symptoms; left side weakness, unable to move his left arm or leg, and his left eye became weak. Over the course of several days, Oscar became more and more paralyzed and an MRI revealed that his spinal cord was severely compressed and pinched by the disks in his neck. Multiple disks in his neck compressing his spinal cord, ultimately paralyzed him. Oscar would need emergency surgery to relieve his spinal cord from the compression and underwent a C3 – C6 laminectomy. Tragically, Oscar would never walk again, and is in need of lifelong rehabilitation and specialized medical care.

Oscar and his wife Jennifer, of fifteen years have five children together ranging in age from 4 to 22. Prior to sustaining his spinal cord injury, Oscar worked as a certified interpreter for the Spanish speaking community. While Oscar is unlikely to walk again, he is looking forward to the day he can return to work as an interpreter. A power wheelchair will enable Oscar to one day be able to perform his job. Oscar has a long road and recovery ahead of him, and will require extensive physical therapy, rehab and medications. His out-of-pocket medical expenses, medical bills, co-pays, deductibles, medications, specialized equipment fees, living expenses, and daily treatment costs continue to add up each day. Even with health insurance, Oscar is facing a lifetime of medical expenses and out-of-pocket fees. A power wheelchair, home modifications and a wheelchair accessible vehicle are too costly for Oscar to handle on his own. Oscar desperately needs your help to secure his future and improve his quality of life.