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Posts Tagged ‘Ben Haight’

Another big step forward!!

Posted in Fundraisers, tagged , , , , on August 6, 2014| 1 Comment »

Gabe Kennedy (left) with Justin, a friend he made at rehab. (Photos from Solea Kennedy's GoFundMe page)

Gabe Kennedy (left) with Justin, a friend he made at rehab. (Photos from Solea Kennedy’s GoFundMe page)

Kennedy at his new home on Whidbey Island.

Kennedy at his new home on Whidbey Island.

Kennedy begins the process of learning to walk with his prosthetic leg.

Kennedy begins the process of learning to walk with his prosthetic leg.

Things are gonna get easier, things will get brighter.

The words of “O-o-h Child” by the Five Stairsteps, which are currently getting a rebirth on the silver screen thanks to “Guardians of the Galaxy,” apply to Gabe Kennedy.

The son of popular Coupeville Food Bank volunteer Solea Kennedy, and older brother of former Wolf football star Ben Haight, he’s continuing a tough path back after being the victim of a vicious hit and run in Reno.

Having come out of a coma and made the jump from a Nevada hospital to the UW Rehab Center in Seattle, he started August off with his biggest jump — leaving hospitals behind to come to Whidbey.

While Kennedy, who lost a leg in the accident, has much work ahead of him as he adjusts to a prosthetic, the progress he has shown is remarkable.

Insurance is covering some of his expenses, but not all.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to allow others to reach out and offer a helping hand to a resilient young man.

If you get a moment, pop over to the page and take a look at his journey, and maybe help a brother out.

http://www.gofundme.com/955tg8

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Onward and upward!!

Posted in Fundraisers, tagged , , , on July 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Gabe Kennedy (center) during a recent visit from family and friends. (Photos from Solea Kennedy's GoFundMe page)

Gabe Kennedy (center) during a recent visit from family and friends. (Photos from Solea Kennedy’s GoFundMe page)

Kennedy takes his first step on his prosthetic leg.

Kennedy stands on his new prosthetic leg.

Good news continues to flow in for Gabe Kennedy and his many supporters.

Kennedy, older brother of former CHS football star Ben Haight, was seriously hurt in a hit and run accident in Reno May 8, but his recovery has taken great strides in the last few weeks.

Currently at the University of Washington’s Rehab Center, Kennedy has been fitted with a prosthetic leg and is on target to be released Aug. 1.

His family, headed up by his mom, popular Coupeville Food Bank volunteer Solea Kennedy, has rented him a room overlooking Penn Cove.

In recent updates on the family’s GofFundMe page, Gabe’s progress has been encouraging:

When Gabe came to UW, he only had about 65% flexion in his left knee. Today the therapist measured it to 100!

He is able to transfer in and out of a wheelchair using a sliding board with just standby assistance.

Gabe is doing very well today! Activity and appetite levels are good. Weekly progress meeting (with about fifteen) specialists and whatnot found him meeting all goals and exceeding one!

Gabe is getting stronger everyday. Slated for another field trip on sat. Pain is not with him today, but was yesterday.

Gabe is doing great. He received his prosthetic leg on Friday. He had to adjust to wearing it, an hour on and off for a few days, to make sure it is fitting properly before he can start practicing standing on it.

His left leg still cannot tolerate full weight bearing … another couple of weeks for that.

For updates and to help the family with their considerable expenses, pop over to:

http://www.gofundme.com/955tg8

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Better days are ahead!!

Posted in Football, Fundraisers, tagged , , , , on July 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Gabe Kennedy

Gabe Kennedy (Photos from Solea Kennedy’s GoFundMe page)

His family was able to take Gabe outside to the nearby Seattle Yacht Club to see fireworks on the 4th.

His family was able to take Gabe outside to the nearby Seattle Yacht Club to see fireworks on the 4th.

One positive after another.

As he makes the difficult battle back after a horrifying hit and run, Gabe Kennedy continues to improve and reach new positives.

The older brother of former Wolf football star Ben Haight and son of Coupeville Food Bank volunteer Solea Kennedy, Gabe was struck while skateboarding in Reno in early May.

He was in a coma and lost a leg, and the woman who slammed into him fled the scene, only to finally turn herself in to police several weeks later.

Now at the University of Washington Rehab Center, Kennedy has shown enough progress that doctors have set August 1 as a possible date for him being discharged.

In recent updates on her GoFundMe page, Solea talked about the steps Gabe has hit:

Yesterday, they removed Gabe’s trache, so now he is tube free!

He is doing well, feeling much better. The hole in his throat will close up on its own, probably in a few days!

The physicians agreed to start Gabe working with a prosthetic leg.

It is a long process and he will have to take it “one step at a time” since his left leg is still not able to bear weight due to the reduction surgeries that are still in the healing stage.

Gabe is making good progress, though.

He has taken advantage of every exercise opportunity to work on regaining use and strength in his hands and arms.

The left one still gives him a lot of trouble, but he is determined to push past it…

As he continues his fight, you can write to him at:

UW Rehab Medicine
Gabe Kennedy
Room 806
1959 NE Pacific St.
Box 356071
Seattle, WA 98195-6071

Or, consider helping the family out with the ever-spiraling medical expenses by jumping over to:

http://www.gofundme.com/955tg8

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“It is so good to see the twinkle back in his eye!!”

Posted in Football, Fundraisers, tagged , , , , on June 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Gabe Kennedy

Gabe Kennedy (Photo from Solea Kennedy’s GoFundMe page)

Gabe Kennedy and mom Solea.

Kennedy and mom Solea.

The older brother of former Wolf football star Ben Haight continues to improve as he fights back from a horrific hit and run accident.

Gabe Kennedy, 25, whose mom Solea Kennedy is a well-known community volunteer with the Coupeville Food Bank, was hit May 8 while skateboarding in Reno. He lost a leg and was in a coma for several days.

In her most recent update on GoFundMe, a site that the family is using to raise funds to help cover the rapidly-spiraling medical expenses, Solea provided one of the most positive reports in recent times.

Oh boy, Gabe is getting to be quite popular with the staff. Having been here such a long time, he has made some great friends.

Since he is using a speaking valve, he has been keeping people entertained with his humor!

It is so good to see the twinkle back in his eye!

There are still hurdles to clear before getting him to rehab in Seattle, but progress is being made.

Gabe needs to get to eating and drinking and breathing without the trache. He needs to be able to tolerate hours of daily therapy.

We need to get logistics worked out for transport to Washington and get an approval from the UW acute rehab.

To see more updates and possibly help the family out, jump over to their page at:

http://www.gofundme.com/955tg8

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Fight on, brother!!

Posted in Football, Fundraisers, Whidbey's Best, tagged , , , on June 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Gabe Kennedy

Gabe Kennedy (Photos from Solea Kennedy’s GoFundMe page)

A moment or two in the sun for Gabe and one of his nurses.

A moment or two in the sun for Gabe and one of his nurses.

Hope never rests.

Fighting back from terrible injuries suffered in a hit and run accident while skateboarding in Reno, Gabe Kennedy, older brother of Coupeville High School football star Ben Haight, continues to get stronger with each day.

Mom Solea Kennedy, a volunteer with the Coupeville Food Bank, has been by her son’s side for most of the ordeal — coming back to town for Haight’s graduation, where he was Salutatorian.

She continues to update the progress shown by Gabe, who has come out of a coma but is enduring multiple surgeries, on the family’s GoFundMe page.

A recent one:

Gabe really smiled tonight! Kerri Anne and Andy were visiting and when Andy repeated something funny that Gabe had said a month ago, Gabe gave him a big toothy grin!

Whenever Andy told Gabe one of Gabe’s own jokes, he would smile! We tried our own jokes, but according to Gabe, no one is as funny as Gabe!

Donations, including those from Coupeville folks, have poured in, but the family is still in great need.

To follow updates on Gabe’s progress, and to possibly help out the family (every dollar counts) jump over to:

http://www.gofundme.com/955tg8

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