Community Rallying to Help 34-Year-Old Injured in Car Accident

Emily Progin, Content Manager

eprogin@helphopelive.org / 800.642.8399

COMMUNITY RALLYING TO HELP 34-YEAR-OLD INJURED IN CAR ACCIDENT

Hospitalized Since Sept 27, Father of Three Donald “Jay” Scantling Is Unable to Walk

WALDRON, Ark.—On September 27, 34-year-old Donald “Jay” Scantling’s life changed forever. A car accident left him with a segmented spinal cord and a traumatic brain injury. Since the accident, he has been in inpatient care and unable to walk. Loved ones have started fundraising with the trusted nonprofit Help Hope Live to help Donald, his wife, and his three daughters offset the overwhelming medical costs associated with his care as he recovers.

Donald and his wife of ten years, Norma, are highly engaged with the Waldron community. Norma works at the Waldron Elementary School cafeteria and teaches Children’s Church. Norma and Donald run a street ministry together. Their three daughters love participating in school activities and sports—Aubrey, 13, attends Waldron Middle School, and Mykenzi, 9, and Serenity, 7, attend Waldron Elementary where Norma works.

Donald lives with a hereditary degenerative disc disease that makes him unable to work. As a result, Norma and Donald have been living on Norma’s income of $15,000 per year.

Donald has recently relocated from Select Specialty Hospital to Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital in Fort Smith. He is living with paraplegia with an unknown prognosis for future mobility as well as respiratory failure, a traumatic brain injury, seizures, and anxiety associated with his medical diagnoses. Over the next three weeks, he may be able to return home—but finances are standing in the way.

Norma and Donald need urgent home modifications to ensure that Donald can return home in a wheelchair. They will also need an accessible vehicle that can accommodate a mobility device so Donald can continue to be an active and involved father and community member.

Insurance will not cover either of these expenses, and Norma and Donald cannot take on the financial burden alone. That’s why their loving community has turned to the national nonprofit Help Hope Live to start a medical fundraising campaign. Tax-deductible donations can be made at: https://helphopelive.org/campaign/23011/

With help from the community, Donald will be able to continue his recovery and come home for the holidays by the end of December.

Unlike a GoFundMe campaign, donations to Help Hope Live are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, and all funds raised will be managed by the nonprofit to cover verified medical and related expenses. Help Hope Live verifies medical and financial need for every patient.

Help Hope Live is a national nonprofit that specializes in engaging communities in secure, tax-deductible fundraising campaigns for people who need a transplant or are affected by a catastrophic injury or illness. Since 1983, campaigns organized by Help Hope Live have raised over $181 million to pay patient expenses. ###