Totally off-topic, a call for help

Some of you know that my 14 year old grandson Keenan is a nationally competitive tennis player. One of his compadres here has been hit by a terrible misfortune, and the family is in dire need of help. I am reposting below information from a website that has been set up for them.

A Call for Assistance

15 year old tennis star struck with an unknown virus becomes paralyzed from the waist down.

Hadrien Saperstein is fifteen years old and he is a nationally ranked tennis player. Last year he was ranked #63 in the nation. He resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both Hadrien and his sister, Victorie Saperstein are members of the Las Vegas Hilton Tennis Academy. His father Mark works for the Academy.

June 28, 2008 - Las Vegas, NV

Hadrien started shaking badly, he complained of severe back pain and his legs started feeling numb. Mark, his father, took him to Urgent Care, where they immediately saw the severity of the situation and had him transferred to the intensive care unit at Summerlin Hospital. Hadrien became paralyzed from the diaphragm down and was diagnosed with "Transverse Myelitis". The neurologist transferred him to Sunrise Hospital to do special testing and then transferred him to UMC where he was treated for 2 weeks. At UMC they did "Plasmapheresis", "Immunoglobulin" treatments and Steroid therapy. At that point the neurologist, who had been following him from the beginning, felt that they had done all the treatments available and sent him to Health South Rehabilitation Center, where he presently resides. He is still paralyzed from the waist down. We have high hopes that he will gain the feeling in his legs, walk again and even be able to play tennis at the high level that he was before the illness. His father Mark and his mother Laurence have been non-stop at the hospitals and rehab from the beginning. This has been very traumatic on everyone, especially Hadrien. Mark has been in communication with John Hopkins, and other hospital facilities that specialize in similar diseases to get Hadrien the help he needs, but his insurance will not support any additional care. He is in great need of psychological help to deal with the paralysis and emotions from being confined to a bed and wheel chair. Since his HMO insurance does not cover the rehab center, his father has been informed that the rehab facility will only be covered 80% by the PPO insurance.

Mark has been with Hadrien on a daily basis to support him and is exhausted from sleeping at the hospital/rehab every night. He has not been able to make money and is having a difficult time paying the day to day bills which causes additional stress to him and his family, compounded with the knowledge of future medical debt. Since faced with the devastation of Hadrien's illness, as a family, we have supported one another financially and psychologically to the best of our ability.

It is for the above reasons we created this website and the Hadrien Saperstein Gift Fund. At this time, we are turning to the public for further assistance. Unless you have personally experienced something like this, you can only imagine the emotional and financial strain this illness has put on our family. Our families have been very fortunate in the past to help many organizations, charities and families in different ways. If there is any way that you can help us, by gifting any amount our family will greatly appreciate it!

www.hadriensapersteingiftfund.org

Contact info: Elaina Saperstein | 702-281-9755
elainasaperstein@yahoo.com