Carina Ho

Help Me Walk Again!

This past August, a few months before my 27th birthday, I was injured in a devastating car accident while on a family road trip. I lost my mother in the accident, and I suffered a spinal cord injury at the T2 level leaving me paralyzed from the chest down.

After spending two months in the ICU and going through inpatient rehabilitation, I still have a long road to recovery ahead of me. Before my injury, I was a ballet dancer, a passionate educator, and an all-around adventure seeker. But my injury won’t stop me from doing the things I love.

As I acclimate to life in a wheelchair, my family and I are faced with numerous medical expenses. Though I have Medi-Cal (California’s version of Medicaid), there are many costly therapies and equipment not covered by insurance that could potentially help me regain more function below the level where my spinal cord was severed.

For example, I am receiving intensive exercise-based spinal cord injury therapy, which utilizes cutting edge technology such as the Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) bike, which transmits electrical pulses through the legs to prevent muscular atrophy. In addition, my family needs to modify our home to make it accessible for my wheelchair. With your help and generosity, I will be able to get the treatment I need to make the fullest recovery possible, with the hope of walking one day.

To help me meet my goal of living an active and independent life, a fundraising campaign in my honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a trusted nonprofit organization that has been providing community-based fundraising guidance to patients and their families for more than 30 years. All donations are tax-deductible, and may be eligible for corporate matching programs with your employer. Donations are held by HelpHOPELive in the Southwest Spinal Cord Injury Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for injury-related expenses only. Please consider a contribution, no matter the amount.

My family and I have been touched by the incredible outpouring of support from our network of family, friends, and the wider community. We want to thank each and every one of you for being in our lives and helping us on the path towards a bright, happy, and healthy future.

My sincerest thanks,

Carina Ho, [email protected]