A Good Cause. A Great Family. The Chicago Polar Bear Plunge.
The Chicago, IL Lakeview Polar Bear Club has chosen to support two great causes for the 2013 Polar Bear Plunge.
One of the two is my best friend Peter Quinn and his family. Here’s info from their website.
“Peter Quinn loved to run – including the Chicago Marathon in 2010. But on April 16th, 2011 Peter was out running when he started to cross the street. A speeding van ran a red light and struck Peter. He flew 30′ from the impact and suffered many injuries, such as: broken ribs, a collapsed lung, broken tibia and a major spinal cord injury. Peter spent 1 month in the hospital and was given a 2% chance to walk again.During the hospital say Peter had surgery to insert titanium rods in his spine and he underwent 3 surgeries on his lungs. He was then moved to rehab for 2.5 months before finally being healthy enough to move home. Since the accident, Peter’s life has been all about family, friends and rehabilitation. Peter rehabs 6 hours/day, 4 days per week. Another five days each week he travels to Rockford, IL for hyperbaric chamber treatments. Peter’s family and friends have sacrificed a lot of time, money and energy to ensure that Peter gets to all of his appointments so he reaches the ultimate goal – walking again.
The rehabilitation work is definitely hard, but the benefits are starting to show. After 9 months Peter was taking steps with the help of orthotics. Each day has victories and setbacks, but all of the physical therapy that he has completed, Peter is slowly making progress towards walking on his own.
Peter remains a strong individual and is not defined by this accident, as he is also a husband (wife is Rita) and a father of three beautiful children: Katherine (age 12), Henry (9), and Andrew (6). The family has additional responsibilities and expenses as the youngest child, Andrew, is autistic. His condition requires special care and the family is doing everything necessary to ensure that Andrew lives a normal and well-adjusted childhood. This is a wonderful family that has been dealt a serious and life altering change. With your donations, the LPBC is able to provide Peter with the necessary therapy sessions to have him walking & playing with this children in the near future. For videos of Peter’s progress, check out the website: http://petersplace2011.blogspot.com/”
If you want to help, you can support the Lakeview Polar Bear plunge or donate directly at Peter’s Place.