On April 6, 2011 she became one of the victims of a tragic car incident where she sustained serious head trauma injury and had to be flown, by air ambulance, to St. Mary’s Children Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida.

She sustained a frontal skull fracture and right hemisphere brain damage to the corpus callosum of the brain. This damage has limited her presynaptic and postsynaptic neuron messaging system, suppressing her motor functions on the left side of her body. Her recovery is progressing very well and is hopeful through therapy which is underway.

To assist with Thema’s uninsured medical expenses and recovery therapies a fundraising campaign has been established with the HelpHOPELive. HelpHOPELive is a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for more than 28 years and the catastrophically injured community for more than 10 years. Thema’s family has chosen to fundraise with HelpHOPELive Catastrophic Injury Fund in part because HelpHOPELive provides both tax-deductibility and fiscal accountability to her contributors. Contributors can be sure that funds contributed will be used only to pay or reimburse medically-related expenses.

All contributions are administered by HelpHOPELive exclusively for injury related expenses. Contributions are deductible to the full extent of the law. To make a charitable contribution:

Make checks payable to: HelpHOPELive Southeast Traumatic Brain Injury Fund
Print in memo of check: In Honor of Thema DeGraff
Please send to: HelpHOPELive
Two Radnor Corporate Center100 Matsonford Road, Suite 100
Radnor, PA 19087

If you wish to donate by means of a credit card, please select the DONATE NOW button.

With sincere thanks,

Karen E. Hodge, Thema’s Grandmother
procope@viaccess.net

Rashida Hodge, Thema’s Aunt
rashida_hodge@yahoo.com