Family and friends of Matt Henry are raising money to RENOVATE THE MASTER BATH as he is wheelchair bound due to being a quadriplegic, as a result of his Spinal Cord Injury.

Matt had an accident and is currently quadriplegic from the chest down. Here is his story:

As some of you know, on January 4, 2020 Matt had a freak snowboarding accident at Keystone, near the bottom of his run. He caught an edge on his snowboard and fell, his head and shoulder planting in the snow. His body and board flipped over his head, breaking his neck and dislocating his shoulder. The Keystone Ski Patrol and Mountain Safety reached him very quickly and immobilized his neck and back. They got him onto a sled and loaded him into an ambulance where he realized he could not feel his legs.

He was transported via ambulance to St. Anthony Hospital (Level 1 Trauma) in Lakewood. In the ER his core body temperature was 90 degrees. They did a cat-scan and an MRI. Matt had a burst C6 Vertebrae, cracked C7 and dislocated his shoulder. Upon reviewing the imaging with his neurosurgeon team, we saw the C6 vertebrae had shattered with part of it putting significant pressure on his spinal cord.

Matt had surgery to remove bone fragments from his neck, replace the vertebrae with cadaver bone, placed a titanium plate and fused C5, C6 and C7 vertebrae together. They put his shoulder back into the socket. The Neurosurgeon gave us an update 2:30 AM after the surgery and told us that he made room for spinal cord swelling, and let us know that the cord was bruised but did not appear to be severed.

Matt was in ICU for 8 days with treatment to keep his blood pressure up for the benefit of his spinal cord healing. At this point he was fully paralyzed from his chest down and had some deficiency with his hands and fingers. He was weak and his body was in shock and in a lot of pain.

A few days into his ICU stay some small miracles began occurring. He could feel some touch on his left toes and ankle. He began identifying touch on part of his chest below the original line of feeling. He concentrated on trying to move muscles in his legs and core.

After 8 days in ICU he was stable enough to be transported to Craig Hospital to begin his very long rehabilitation. We are fortunate to have Craig Hospital in our area. Craig is the best place in the country for Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation. Considering his injury, Matt is so fortunate to be there! https://craighospital.org/programs/spinal-cord-injury-rehabilitation

At Craig: “Spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment and rehabilitation focuses on aggressively working with patients physically and psychologically, so that in a shorter period of time patients can maximize their neurological recovery and general health.”

Matt’s rehab team at Craig consisted of Matt, his family, girlfriend Ashley (the love of his life), his physician, rehabilitation nurses, nurse technicians, his physical therapist, occupational therapist, therapeutic recreation therapist, a clinical care manager, clinical psychologist, a dietitian and a pharmacist. When needed, other consultants and treatment professionals who specialize in SCI also are included on his team.

His daily schedule was jam packed with 8-9 hours of therapy to reach his goal of walking (and shredding!) again. In the first 4 weeks he has made huge progress with healing, feeling his whole left side, his leg and foot. His right side is beginning to get feeling, his core and back muscles are strengthening. His shoulder is healing slowly and initially hindered his ability to do a lot of therapy, but is gaining strength and range of motion. He is just barely flexing both quads, glutes and hip flexors. His team refers to it as “more than nothing but less than something”. His fingers and hands are getting stronger as has access to the upper extremities lab with specialized equipment for strengthening and dexterity.

MATT NEEDS YOUR HELP

Matt cannot get upstairs or into the shower. We are renovating the master bath and installing a wheelchair lift. The lift costs $16,000+. The bathroom will have a shower big enough for a wheelchair and be able to access the sink. We are gutting the bathroom and have a General Contractor starting on the project. PLEASE DONATE TO THE COST OF THIS PROJECT. Thank you so much!

We have chosen to fundraise for Matt using Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses.

To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button. Every bit will help! Please share!

Please help, and thank you for supporting Matt through his journey to heal and be able to walk again!
#mattwillshredagain