justin Scardina

Help a Beloved Decorah Father and Prize-Winning Chef Get Back on his Feet

On February 25th, 2020, Justin Scardina suffered a devastating fall at work. With a ruptured aneurysm in his frontal lobe and a vertebra fracture in his neck, he was airlifted from Decorah, IA to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, where expert neurosurgeons saved his life. The severity of his condition required him to remain in the intensive care unit at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for ten days, followed by an additional week-long hospital stay. On March 13, at long last Justin was stable enough to be transferred to the Inpatient Rehabilitation unit at Gundersen Health Systems in La Crosse, WI, where he remained until March 19. What makes the situation even more catastrophic is that Justin was uninsured at the time of his accident; this campaign is to help ease the extraordinary financial burden of his medical bills and his continuing rehabilitation needs on his long road to recovery.

As a devoted single dad and a prize-winning chef, Justin has dedicated most of his time, energy, and career to caring for others. He is someone who volunteers his culinary talents at various benefits, as he feels strongly about giving back to individuals in need and to the Decorah community as a whole. Having lived there since starting his degree at Luther College in 2000, it would be difficult to find anyone in town who does not either know Justin personally or who has not tasted his delicious cooking. Justin is determined to heal and regain the ability to continue his passion for bringing people together with food and collaborating with his community. Although his long-term prognosis is not entirely clear, Justin has regained most of his physical abilities and is making strides toward improving his cognitive function.

No thirty-seven-year old could ever foresee suffering such a terrible health crisis. Now Justin faces a different type of crisis: the costs of his medical care and recovery are extreme and the doctors cannot yet say when he will be able to return to work. Proceeds to Justin’s campaign will go toward his medical bills from his twenty-four days in the hospital, his continuing outpatient occupational therapy and speech therapy that are required for his full recovery, his follow-up appointments with specialists, and his subsequent diagnostic tests and possible surgeries for his brain and neck.

We would be so grateful for donations of any amount to help ease Justin’s financial burden. Having this support will allow Justin to focus on his recovery so that he may once again become an active member of the Decorah community that he loves so well.

Justin has chosen to fundraise for 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.

For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399 or contact his sister Jessica Christensen: [email protected]

Thank you for your support!