Dear Family and Friends,

I am writing to you on behalf of Igor Petreski. Igor is a 20 year-old college student from Macedonia who is in Austin, Texas as part of an international summer work and travel program. A few days after arriving in Austin, Igor suffered a broken neck and severe spinal cord injury while training to be a lifeguard. He has no feeling from his mid-chest on down. This paralysis will be permanent, and Igor now faces months of rehabilitation.

Igor’s mother and father, Sonja and Zvonko, rushed to Austin to be with Igor and left their home and jobs in Macedonia for the foreseeable future. This is a very difficult and traumatic time for the family, complicated by the fact that Igor is so far from home. There are no rehabilitation facilities in Macedonia in fact there is no hospital in his hometown, no sidewalks, no elevators, no paved roads. The Petreski’s fear that their only son would be sent to an institution if he returned home to Macedonia in a wheelchair. They are desperate for him to remain in the USA and receive whatever rehab is available and ultimately wish they could all remain here together. Sonja and Zvonko now face months of negotiations with immigration authorities to get work visas.