Rohit Jacob Thomas

Dear Family & Friends,

Help Rohit Thomas pay off medical debt, get back behind the wheel, and return to the outdoors after a life-changing spinal cord injury.

Getting Back Outside: My Journey to Independence

Nearly five years ago, my life changed in the time it takes to miss a single step.

I was walking down the stairs in my own home when I lost my footing, went over the railing, and fell roughly ten feet from the second floor to the first. I landed hard on my back. The fall caused a burst fracture at T12 and an incomplete spinal cord injury, and surgeons fused my spine from T11 to L1. I haven’t walked since.

Today, I have no feeling below my waist except in my quads, and I’ve lost bladder and bowel function. I use a wheelchair full-time. This didn’t happen on a mountain or in a highway crash. It happened on my own staircase, on an ordinary day. That’s part of why it still feels so hard to fully accept. It can happen to anyone.

Before my injury, I lived outside almost as much as I lived indoors. I drove for the pure pleasure of it. I traveled, I hiked, I road biked, I mountain biked, I camped, I skied, and I played outdoors with my dogs. That was who I was and who I want to be again.

Since the accident, almost all of that has been out of reach. I’ve managed some travel, but the trails, the campgrounds, the mountains, and the freedom of just getting in a car and going — those have been closed to me. Not because I stopped wanting them, but because I don’t have the equipment to do them safely.

I haven’t done this alone. My wife, Maria Thomas, has been my caregiver and my partner through every part of this…the hospital stays, the therapy, the hardest days. My family (including my two dogs), friends, neighbors and colleagues have shown up for me again and again. My cousin, Zachary George, is leading this fundraising campaign with me, starting with the sprint version of a triathlon in Lake George, NY on September 6th to raise the first dollars toward my goal.

I’m partnering with Help Hope Live, a nonprofit that has spent 35 years helping people fundraise for the medical and equipment costs insurance won’t cover. Every donation is tax-deductible, and every dollar raised goes toward my verified medical and mobility expenses.

Here’s what I’m raising for:

·         Outstanding medical bills ($5,000–$6,000) from the ongoing costs of living with a spinal cord injury.

·         Hand controls for one of my cars (approximately $6,000), so I can get certified and get behind the wheel for the first time in nearly five years.

·         An Exoquad all-terrain mobility vehicle (approximately $28,000), a rugged, all-electric vehicle built in Norway specifically for wheelchair users, engineered to tackle the great outdoors and to handle hiking trails, beaches, and campgrounds that a manual wheelchair simply can’t reach. It was co-designed by a man who broke his own back in a mountain biking accident and refused to accept that the outdoors was closed to him for good. I want that same thing.

Altogether, I’m hoping to raise $40,000 to cover all of it. My first goal, by the end of this year, is to pay off my remaining medical debt and install hand controls in my car so I can drive myself again. After that, I’m turning my focus to the Exoquad, the piece that gets me back to the trails, the campgrounds, the beaches, and the mountains I have been yearning to return to.

I’m not asking anyone to fix this for me. I’m asking for help closing the gap between what my insurance covers and what it actually costs to rebuild a life. Every donation ($10, $50, $500, etc.) moves me closer to driving my own car again and getting on that trail with my dogs.

Thank you for reading this far, and thank you in advance for whatever you’re able to give.

With gratitude and love, Rohit Thomas