Ian is a six year old boy with a traumatic brain injury. He used to surf with his daddy, and he hopes to surf again! He needs several therapies and equipment
to help him heal.
On July 3, 2008, Tod and Stephanie McFarland and their three
children, Ian, then five; Lauren, then two; and Luke, then one, headed out from
Carlsbad on a road trip. They were going to attend the wedding of Stephanie’s
cousin in Boulder, CO, but they never made it to Boulder. A horrible car
accident claimed the lives of Tod and Stephanie and left all three of their
beautiful children injured to varying degrees. Click
here to read more about the accident
While Luke and Lauren’s injuries were minimal, Ian sustained
severe head trauma and was taken to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt
Lake City, Utah. Members of both Tod and Stephanie's families immediately
converged upon SLC to care for the children. Ian’s severe brain injury left him
in a coma, and he had to wait to be transferred back to California until he
received a shunt and a feeding tube. On August 10, he was flown to Children’s
Hospital in San Diego.
Ian slowly came out of his coma, and his rehabilitation
continued. He was released from CHSD on Oct. 30, 2008 and returned home with
much work to do. Ian has been labeled as having a “diffuse axonal brain
injury with an unknown outcome.” He is responding well to therapy and seems to
be improving little by little. He no longer has the feeding tube. Ian is
able to follow conversations but still has trouble contributing.
Over the course of the past year, Ian has made measurable
strides in his quest for recovery and independence. He is able to
voluntarily take steps with maximum support of his body, but his movements need
a good deal of refinement to be desirably functional. According to his
occupational therapist, Ian's six year old body is growing rapidly, requiring
the braces for his therapy be replaced on a regular basis.
Both his therapies and the equipment are costly. I am
trying to help raise money so he can get the necessary medical care he needs,
and I hope you can help too!
Ian still loves sports and hopes to one day be back at surfing
and skateboarding. But it will be a long road. They tell me Ian is
the most motivated on the beach, so I'm looking forward to playing with him
there, and of course, seeing if I can get him on the surfboard with me!
Paw-abunga! For more information on Ian,
click here for his website.
UPDATE! On May 25th, I tandem surfed with Ian!!
His aunt Melissa says it used to take an hour or two to coax Ian into the
water... he has some fears post accident. But, on this day, because he was
told I was going to surf with him... he woke up and said "I WANT TO SURF TODAY".
With a little help getting to the water, he walked right in, got on the board,
and surfed with me! This is amazing news, and I was so excited to know I
helped motivate Ian to surf! Can't wait to go out with him again!
Here's a video slideshow of me surfing with Ian!
I raised over $7642 for Ian!
I sincerely thank all my
donors for their support!
Donations have come in from all over the world, including The
United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, The Phillipines, and New Zealand.
Robert Steffan, in the picture is his beloved dog,
Jake Dec 1993 - Sept 2005
My brother Rory decided that
instead of getting a birthday present for himself, he would make a donation to
Ian instead. I love you Rory... thank you!
A Christmas gift from Deb Sloan, and her CCI pup in training Alexa goes to:
Jennifer Klatt, and pups Nellie, Mr. Wilson, Lucy & JoJo
The awesome puppy raiser pack:
Kristen Trisko and pups Nuela & Gertrude
Jenny Maxwell and Lynn Deregowski, and pups Bronte & Chantal
Marianne Dimick and pups Kaleigh, Brendan, Goalie & Akeelah
Carol Weldon and pup Trevin
Deb Sloan and pup Alexa
-------------------------
Rene
Albury
Denise Allenbaugh
Evangelia Antonakos
Catherine Arp
George Aulisio Jan Bergman
Jim Bryan
Christina Bowden
Patty Boydstun
Jeffrey Buccellato
Cary Jewelry and Pawn
Nicholas Carberry
Tina Castanares
Mark Castell
Kerry Caulfield
Amanda Clower
JM Cohen
Christy Coats Karen Cornell
Mario Costa
Linnae Costello
Judith Crawford, as a gift to her grandchildren,
Sawyer, Bri, and Bella
Casey Crowdis
Yvonne Dagger Pam Darwin Daniel Davison
Helena Debres
Mei Deng Kristi Dickey
Hazel Grace Dircksen
Mary and Barry Domes
Theresa DuBois
Keith Dunwoody Elizabeth Eastway
Agnes Eichman
Patricia Evans
James Fetterman
Vanessa Flournoy Louise Foreman Korey Frank,
my youngest donor! He's 5 years old & is a snowboarder & skateboarder! Alan Frankel
Dana Franklin
Frank Fridono: In honor of his niece Andrea for Christmas. Merry
Christmas, Andrea!
Esperanza Fuentes
Kathleen Gebhardt Jane Goodman
Mary Gordon
Molly Graham
Carol Gray
Marshall Grodberg
Emma Groshans
Donna Gusman
Norell Hadzimichalis
Sue Hagerman
Erica Hanson
Elisabeth Hayden
Deborah Hendel
Hamilton Hill Rob Hill
Renee Hirshfield
Monika Hoffman Hog Hunting Strategies
Sheila Howard
Pamela Hutchinson Terry Jackson
Andrew Johnson
Meg Jones
Karen Karren
Larry Katz Jennifer Kayler
Veronica Kelly
Christine Kiebert-Boss
Marcia Kittler
Beth Knees
Kay Kopp
Jason Legleiter Julie Lennert
Suzanne Leone Robert Leslie
Mary Lopez
sherry Lowe-Bernie
Kara Ludwig Lance Lundberg
Lorrian Maass
Maureen Marsh
Julie Martinez
Laura Mason
Eileen Matteucci
Stacey Matherne
Leon Mesker
In honor of Livvy, Juliette & Charlotte Meyers, with love from grammie & grandpa
Bill
sherry Lowe-Bernie
Marilyn Ludzki, "In memory for
all the dogs I have known and loved." Lance Lundberg Merchandise Trading
Laura Middleton
Robert Mihal
Brett Molin
William Morehead
PJ Murray
Kathleen Myers
Debra Mykitiak
Stephen J Neveroski
Kathryn Newell
Meredeth Oliver Gayle Olson
Jamie Paske
Charlotte Pearce Susan Pearson
Darryl Perlin
Angela Petruncio
Michael Phelan
Franca Piccione
Billy Pollina and Jason Larimer ProFX
Lori Pryt
Robin Quayle
Mary Anne Redmond Marlene Reiss
Arlene Rexford
alejandro robles
Suzanne Ronald Allyson Ross & Family Steve Schlesinger
Destiny Schultz
Janis Seward
Michelle Shaw
Kathryn Sica
Linda Sidor
Steven Sliwa Beverly Smith Mark Smith
Zachary Smith
Linda Solomon
Vikrant Srivastava Donna Starr
Saralyn Still
Cindy Surridge
Cherie Sweeney
Kathleen M Sylvester Crystal Tabor
Carolyn Taylor-Farley
Katie Thatcher
Barry Thompson
Jamison Tomeo
Marcin Ulinski
Victoria Vaughn
Christy Versluis
Rebecca Wheeler
Mike Wood Shelly Younger
Perrin Zamarripa
Steven Zolnierek
