Bobby Gould

There’s no way to sum up these past indescribable and unimaginable 9 months of our lives!If you’re just joining, I’m going to try to briefly sum it up: my husband, Dave and father of our 3 grown kids, Lauren, Meg & Bobby had a stroke on 4.20.24 and was left with right side paralysis (his right arm isn’t moving YET and his walk/gait is impaired as he has “drop foot”), aphasia & apraxia (loss of speech, which is slowly returning, but far from normal) and a non-functioning bladder. He’s not been able to return to work YET and is on long term disability and in the process of getting on Social Security Disability, which could possibly take up to couple of years to get approved and will be a much lower amount of income than he was earning pre-stroke. Then, BAM!… almost 7 months after Dave’s stroke, on November 16, 2024, our 23-year-old son, Bobby had an electric skateboarding accident leaving him with a fractured neck at Cervical Spine C-5, 6 &; 7 and one on his Thoracic spine with some spinal cord swelling and damage. He CAN talk, thank God! At the time of his accident, he couldn’t move his legs, his bowels and bladder weren’t functioning properly, he could lift his arms, but he’s lost most dexterity in his fingers. On December 5th, he was flown by medical transport to Craig Hospital in Denver, a world-renowned rehab for both spinal cord and brain injured patients. Bobby is making miraculous progress there.

After using my unpaid Family Medical Leave to be Dave’s full-time caregiver, I returned to work at the end of the summer, not only for the income, but also for the benefits. Lauren and Meg have put their lives on hold as well, to care for both their little brother and their dad.

To say our worlds have been turned upside down is an understatement. We’re all doing the best we can, both trying to live day by day while at the same time preparing and planning for the future of unknown costs as well as what both Dave and Bobby’s long-term physical disabilities may be. Obviously, we are praying, wishing, hoping for both of their minds and bodies to heal completely! Thank you ALL for the prayers; they really are working.

When Dave returned home from his rehab in May, family and friends stepped up to adapt the house to his needs (ramp, hospital bed, etc.) and we were all so grateful for the outpouring of help with meals, food and gift cards and more. There have been many out-of-pocket costs for Dave’s healing journey with such things as acupuncture, chiropractic treatments, costly organic foods, extra therapy sessions that have gone over the insurance covered limit.

Bobby is projected to come home from Denver as early as mid-February, unless he stays at Craig to do his outpatient therapy. Thankfully & miraculously, he’s able use a walker sometimes, but will most likely come home with a wheelchair too. Because of this, more home modifications must be made such as widening doorways and adding an ADA shower and converting our den into his bedroom. Prior to their illnesses/injuries, Dave and Bobby were my handymen! We’ve hardly ever had to pay for contractors for renovations or any kind of work on our house or yard. Dave and Bobby could fix, build, paint, rake, shovel, repair pretty much anything! It’s going to be (already is) hard for Dave to watch others doing jobs around here that he normally would have done. He’s a construction project manager for Chipotle. Bobby is a tree-climber/arborist-in training for Bartlett Tree Company. They both desperately want to get back to their careers and be the breadwinners and help around the house, be productive & purposeful and help their friends & family members fix things. It’s hard for all of us as a family accepting and asking for help, but here we are…

We can never thank everyone who has already helped in so many ways, cards, flowers, gifts, meals, gift cards, checks, cash and donations on the GoFundMe. We are now switching from that fundraising platform to this Help Hope Live platform as it seems to suit our family’s unique financial & medical situation better and any donations you make are tax deductible. Because we have TWO different people with different situations, there need to be TWO different fundraisers instead of one lump one like the GoFundMe was.

Please donate to Help Hope Live in Bobby & Dave’s honor today, and ask your friends and family to give, too. We’re hoping to plan some local fundraisers too, maybe in the summer. We can’t thank you enough for your care, prayers and generous support!

Eternally grateful,Tricia, Dave, Lauren, Meg & BobbyYou can still follow my updates on both of their progress on the Caring Bridge Site here: and friends of Robert Gould are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with a Catastrophic Injury. Robert has chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because donations are tax deductible for contributors and will only be used to cover medical and related expenses.s