WHY WE FIGHT: Drew McPherson, and This Sunday

https://www.transplantfund.org/Restricted/patient-detail.cfm?pat_id=1725&CFID=9437781&CFTOKEN=54613637

If you click on the above, you will see a picture of my friend Drew McPherson.

Drew is intelligent, friendly, cheerful, determined, athletic— –and paralyzed.

He dived into a river, and struck his head on something underwater.

Just like that. Like turning off a lightswitch. One instant he was a young athlete, capable of anything physical, running, leaping, diving: the next, his neck was broken, the spine was damaged, and his body could not obey his commands anymore.

Suddenly, so many things he took for granted—dressing, showering, the bathroom—are not simple anymore.

But Drew is tough. He is exercising, continuing his college (trigonometry!) with a perfect 4.0 GPA; he is not sitting back waiting for a miracle. He is going on with his life.

Unfortunately, insurance will not cover his therapy, nor the equipment he needs to drive.

In a perfect world, this would be taken care of; but it’s not.

So, Drew is involved with a fund-raiser, a walk-a-thon. It is this Sunday. It is a professionally done affair, with the cooperation of the NTAF Southwest Spinal Cord Injury Fund, in honor of Drew McPherson.

No notice, I know. Also, we are all feeling the pinch financially.

But if you can chip in ten bucks, I will too. If you go to the website, you can click on the donate now button.

Or, send a check to his Aunt, Marsha Joyce, 7250 Walnut Drive, Fair Oaks, CA 95628 (Make the check out to her.)

Until there is a cure, there must be care. If we stick together, we are strong.

P.S. Here is a note from Andrew.

Update and second annual ice cream social and walk-it-off-a-thon august 9th

Dear family and friends

Some of you I have spoken to recently and others of you I am sorry to say I have not, though I have been thinking of many of you. Given this fact let me start by giving you all a brief update on the past year.
Last fall I increased my class load at American River College by taking trigonometry, public speaking, weight training, and practicing rugby Thursday nights and some Saturdays. Our rugby team attended our first tournament in Reno were we got destroyed but it was fun and we learned a lot. I was pretty stoked too because I won my room fair back with a dollar in the penny slots. On top of school I continued going down to SCI-FIT in Pleasanton on Wednesday. I have been riding down with Matt, a good friend from the rugby team and fellow shake a leg participant, which has been quite convenient. We have spent many long car rides reminiscing about how great “shake” was. Sadly the program had to close given the economic climate. I have also been working with Cody, a physical therapy assistant, on most Saturdays and Sundays to supplement the rest of my workout regime.
Our family spent a quiet Christmas at home which was a relief after a hectic fall schedule. When January came around I chose to further increase my class schedule which totaled 14 units. My schedule included pre-calculus, intro to US government, advanced composition and critical thinking, weight training, and a one-on-one program with an English professor working on writing and study skills. Rugby also continued and we held our first annual sacrament rugby tournament in January. The tenement was a lot of fun and we won our first game. I also have continued working out at SCI-FIT in Pleasanton and with Cody weekly. With this schedule it seemed that between working out and school I never left my room for studying, but it paid off in the end because I’ve been able to maintain my 4.0 GPA thus far in my college career.
By working out like a madman all year I have seen my overall strength improve which has enabled me to do more things for myself leading to my ultimate goal of independence. But in the last month I have seen a decrease which baffles both me and the doctors. Hopefully this will not be much of a setback in the long run. One goal that I spoke about last year which has not manifested as of yet is driving though I’ve made innumerable phone calls and gone to Chico to get a preliminary assessment for the van. I was told that to get the van setup so that I could drive, it would cost upwards of $16,000 which is down from $40,000. This is an additional reason why I have worked so hard to increase my strength to reduce the equipment I need and thus the cost for me to drive.
This brings me to the reason why I am writing you, to ask for your continued support as well as a sincere desire to let you know how I am doing and stay in touch with all of you who have so kindly supported me and my family through this journey. For this reason I am pleased to announce our second annual ice cream social and walk-it-off-a-thon. It will be held august 9th in Hagan Park, Rancho Cordova (the same place as last year but a more accessible site). There will also be a golden raffle with a grand prize of one weeks vacation acomidation to vertualy anywhere like mexico, hawaii palm springs. Flyers should be coming soon with more details so keep your eye out. I will be attempting to put this on on my own this year so if you are interested in helping, have ideas or suggestions please let me know.

Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested.

Thank you for all your support.

Sincerely

Drew McPherson

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