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Collin’s Road to Recovery

Collin broke his C5 and C6 vertebrae and suffered a severe spinal cord injury while at the beach with his friends. He has very limited mobility in his arms and hands, and currently no feeling below the chest. Collin is currently working hard with the amazing staff at Craig Hospital to increase his mobility and independence. We’re asking our family, friends, and community to join us in fundraising with the nonprofit Help Hope Live to help with the rising expenses Collin will face during rehabilitation.

Updates (19)

February 10, 2025

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! Unfortunately, this year has started off in a pretty tragic way here in California. Our thoughts and prayers go out to friends who have lost their homes in the LA fires or experienced any loss of any kind. We hope this update finds all of you in good health.

Last week, I was asked to share a “Celebration” as an ice-breaker in a work meeting. My initial response was, “My celebrations would just be depressing for everyone else in this room.” But, I was immediately regretful of that thought because it discounts all the amazing progress and HARD work that Collin puts in EVERY day. And, it discounts all the loving support we get from friends like you. It’s true that everyday is a challenge and a struggle for us like Collin being in constant nerve pain throughout his body like he’s laying on a bed of nails or Collin getting dropped from his team of doctors because the insurance company won’t negotiate with the hospital group. But, we are really trying to focus less on the things that go wrong and more on the incredible things that DO go our way!

Around Thanksgiving, our friend Dennis Nelson and his construction crew finished a bathroom remodel in our house. It allows Collin to roll straight up to the sink to rinse his face and brush his own teeth (see videos) and for us to roll Collin straight into the shower because the floor is level. I almost cried the first time we used it because it hasn’t been that easy since we were at Craig Hospital in 2023! (The rental house we are in right now has a bathtub and it is quite a bit more cumbersome to manage bathroom care.) We also bought Collin a Nectar bed that can elevate his torso using the voice commands on his phone. All this independence has allowed Collin the comfort for longer stays at home in Santa Barbara. We even got out on a 2 hour bike ride through UCSB on his new scooter adaptation to his manual wheelchair.

https://youtube.com/shorts/DyUhi06OREY?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/VeQEExnNsA8?feature=share

Collin had another BIG milestone last weekend - Brian took him on a “Boys Weekend” to Mammoth for some Adaptive Skiing. (see video) As a kid, Collin spent A LOT of time in Mammoth and this was his first time back which felt so good to him. It was also the first time that Brian had travelled alone with Collin, and he managed the challenges of a hotel room for two nights amazingly. It was a huge confidence booster for Brian and an AWESOME experience for Collin to do some Adaptive Skiing on a Sit-Ski. The thing that really topped off the day was that the lead volunteer helping him with the skiing was Josh Pighetti who was Collin’s Jr. Lifeguard Counselor back from when he was a kid at East Beach in Santa Barbara. Brian and Josh’s dad were also really good friends, so the whole experience was filled with love and complete STOKE.

https://youtu.be/q-LSGFJotaA

We feel so blessed to be surrounded by support from all of you in spirit as well as financially. Nothing is taken for granted and we want to thank all of you for bringing bits of Collin’s “old life” back to our current life. He is working so hard in Physical Therapy three times a week on top of continuing his second semester of his Master’s degree. Thank you all so much.

Much love,

The Bosse Family

xoxo

November 16, 2024

Dear Friends,

We are entering the holiday season and there is a lot to be grateful for. Everyday for us doesn't get easier, but at least it gets more familiar. So, in a sense it is easier to look past the blood pressure issues when Collin has AD, the fear of skin issues when he's wearing new shoes or in wet clothes too long, or whether the spasms he has are good or bad news. Truth is, we are just rolling past the bad and focusing on the good - and there's been a LOT of that!

For the past 6 months Collin has been attending every event possible to get back in the ocean: Waves4All, Stoke for Life, Life Rolls On, Ionis Day at the Beach, and Access Surf Hawaii. Yep - Hawaii! His rehab hospital (Craig Hospital) organizes trips for their graduates and when we were in the hospital, we could only dream of the day when Collin had the strength and ability to take a trip. That time came last month when Brian, Collin and I flew to Oahu for our first trip NOT to a hospital. It was scary having to pack all the medical needs and buy things like a travel commode chair in order to care for Collin outside the comfort of our home. But we did it! We learned so much about ourselves and what Collin is capable of...He and his sister LOVED to travel together before his accident and this trip showed us that they WILL be able to do that again in the future. And, of course, the warm air and water of Oahu was just amazing for Collin who is always cold because of his SCI. We really appreciated the support from the Recreational Therapists who came with us from Craig, the other former patients and their families, and the staff from Access Surf. It was great to also see cousins who he hadn't seen it about five years - awesome!

The stoke continued when we got home to San Diego. Challenged Athletes Foundation holds an annual CAF Community Weekend of events. This year they are almost at their goal of raising $1.5 million for children and adult athletes with special needs. For the past two years we have been blessed with the love and support of Team Santa Barbara Strong. They are one of the top fundraising teams for CAF and are all local triathletes, cyclists, IRONMAN men and women who have really rallied around Collin and our family - truly showing us what an AMAZING town Santa Barbara is! This year they worked with CAF to gift Collin the funds for an adaptive surfboard of his own!! (Thanks Jon and Joe!) This was presented to him onstage right before the CAF triathlon start... who knows? Maybe one day Collin will be competing in that as well!

One of the beautiful things about our Craig trip to Hawaii was meeting the fellow patients who also went on the trip. In talking with one of the other quadriplegics on the trip, we were able to learn about a motorized adaption to Collin's manual chair that works for people without function in their hands. We found a local vendor about 2 hours away and just last week went up there and bought it! It cost about $5,000 but thanks to friends like you, we are able to give Collin a growing sense of independence. He still needs a good manual chair that is fitted for him, not the demo model chair he is still using, but that will come in time. His goal is to ditch the cumbersome power chair so that he can be more "low profile" in his manual chair and do things like roll up and fit under a table at a restaurant.

Please enjoy the attached pictures and videos of Collin's latest adventures. You can tell by the size of his smile that he is really trying to embrace life! I love the picture on the beach at Rincon with the many Santa Barbara friends who continue to support Collin along with his SDSU friends and others in the SCI community. This network of friendship that is sticking by his side means THE WORLD to him. We all feel the love and wish that for everyone this holiday season and beyond. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We can't say it enough.

https://youtube.com/shorts/MjXTjiS6GPQ?feature=share

https://youtu.be/Aj-SKmBvQfk

https://youtu.be/zutS95LYB5A

https://youtu.be/R-8o_92-hCw

Much love,

The Bosse Family

xoxo

Photo Galleries (11)

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Guestbook

October 31, 2024

Yogurtland Goleta loves Collin!

Anonymous

April 16, 2024

Praying for you all.

Jen Holdren

February 6, 2024

Friend of the Hoyer Nielsen's, thinking about you and admiring your determination.

Nannette Erdtmann - de Groot