Lynn Knutson

Help Lynn Get Back to Work!

Lynn was working at a grocery store, doing a carryout for an older customer, when the hatch from that SUV smashed down on top of her head. She sustained a traumatic brain injury and has been unable to work since that day in 2019. She’s had an extensive array of cognitive, balance, speech, visual, sensory, etc. issues, extreme fatigue as well as severe photophobia (light sensitivity) and sensitivity to sound. Her processing speed tested 15% of normal. Walking is very difficult as she consistently dips to the right side. She cannot stand for more than a few minutes at a time without great fatigue. Her central/peripheral vision is distorted to where her nervous system is always in “fight/flight” mode, overreacting to visual and auditory stimuli. The ongoing accumulation of environmental, visual, physical, auditory and cognitive factors exponentially decreases her capacity to function. This creates a “sensory and system overload” which can shut her down until her brain has time to recover. Interacting with life and accomplishing even basic activities of daily living continues to be a challenge on a multitude of levels.

Lynn is a very outgoing, positive and fun-loving person who jumps at the chance to help others. She enjoys kayaking, painting and playing games with friends. Although she has many struggles, she still focuses on all there is for which to be grateful and is an encouragement to others. More than anything, her hope is to heal enough to return to work and be able to once again support herself.

Lynn has received multiple diagnoses and has undergone probably thousands of hours of therapies and homework, all in the interest of healing enough to get back to work, but it was baffling to figure out why improvements were only moving at a snail’s pace. Thankfully, in October 2025, she was finally diagnosed with Cranial/Upper Cervical and ligament Instability (CCI). Turns out THIS was FINALLY the ever-elusive “root cause” of all her ongoing debilitating symptoms. A specialized DMX Digital Motion X-ray was conducted, whereas a continuous x-ray video recorded what was happening with her cervical spine whilst she was directed to move her head in multiple directions, covering a full range of motion.

Lynn learned her neck, instead of a normal 30-40 degree curve, only had an 18 degree curve which causes her spinal cord to be stretched taut like a rubber band and her brain to constantly misinterpret her spinal cord would basically snap, therefore activating the protective “fight/flight” with sometimes even minute movements. This finally explains why her legs so often become paralyzed, as the brain is going to extremes to shut her down in order to prevent what it was hyper- interpreting as life-threatening crises. Her cervical vertebrae are also improperly shifting over each other by more than 25%. The Left vs. Right muscle structures throughout her body are severely imbalanced. Her head is unable to sit properly upon her spine, instead sitting far to her right side. The ligaments deep within her cervical spine are highly unstable, ultimately creating ongoing havoc throughout her body. Her brain severely misinterprets every body movement, sensory stimuli, visual movement, etc as extreme and life-threatening, which explains why her nervous system is in a constant vigilant state of “fight-flight”.

Lynn now gets SSDI disability, but she requires treatments by specialists who either don’t take insurance, or insurance does not cover those treatments so the burden of all of her treatments falls on her alone. Her out of pocket medical costs in 2022 were greater than her entire disability income for the year, and for all years since, have been a minimum of 60%. She eats because she gets food stamps. She works hard to make progress but without these recommended medical treatments, it continues to be at a snail’s pace. More than anything, she wants to go back to work and to be able to function on her own but the capability for continued recovery is fading and she needs your help.

Please donate to Help Hope Live in Lynn’s honor today, and ask your friends and family to give as well. Lynn’s son would love to plan some fundraisers in Lynn’s honor, so if you are able to help with that, please contact him at [email protected] Thank you for your generous support — every little bit helps!

Please also consider sharing Lynn’s campaign with your social circles, as the momentum of spreading the word can create exponential growth.

Family and friends of Lynn Knutson are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with Catastrophic Injury.

Lynn 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.

Thank you for your support!