Bryce J. Rafferty

RECENT EVENTS (Also see News & Events for historical updates)

• Bryce returns to Colorado College on Thursday, August 26th.  
• Last update XIX posted 8/24/10 under News and Events.  

WHAT HAPPENED?
On August 30, 2009, 20 year old Bryce Rafferty, a Colorado College junior, sustained a severe spinal cord injury upon diving into shallow water in Lake Geneva, Switzerland. As a result of this accident, young, athletic, and active Bryce is paralyzed from the chest down with no use of his legs, and limited use of his arms. Bryce turned 21 years old on May 7th this year.

TREATMENT AND SURGERIES TO DATE:Bryce was immediately airlifted from the accident site in Nyon, Switzerland to the Swiss Paraplegic Center in Nottwil, Switzerland where he required 3 surgeries to stabilize a destroyed C6 neck vertebra. After 45 days in the ICU, a life threatening bout of pneumonia, and 5 months of recovery and rehabilitation at the Swiss center, he relocated on January 18, 2010 to Craig Hospital in Denver for a 7 hour spinal cord de-tethering surgery and an additional physical and occupational rehabilitation. Bryce finally returned home to Watertown, CT on May 6, 2010, a long 9 months after the accident. Bryce continues to approach the rehab process aggressively with a fighting spirit and anticipates returning to Colorado College again in August, 2010 to complete his junior and senior years.

WHO IS BRYCE?

At the time of the accident, Bryce was an active 20-year-old International Political Economy major at Colorado College on a junior year semester abroad in Geneva, Switzerland. Bryce is a graduate of The Taft School, Watertown, CT, where he played football and participated in track & field. Bryce was an expert skier, accomplished guitar player, avid hiker, and taught sailing and swimming at Camp Agawam, Raymond, Maine. He hoped to start a band his junior year at college after successfully writing, recording, and producing a CD of his rock compositions with fellow musicians at Taft. Bryce’s mother, Jennifer Zaccara, a Trinity College graduate with a PhD in English from UCONN, is the current English Chair at The Taft School. His father, John Rafferty, a Deerfield Academy, Trinity College, and UCONN MBA graduate, is a SVP in Bank of America’s Enterprise Credit Risk group in NYC.

MEDICAL DETAIL AND IMPLICATIONS :

In SCI medical language, Bryce is classified as a C5-6 quadriplegic. Practically, this means he needs personal aide assistance for several hours in the morning to get up, shower, dress, and get into his wheelchair. He requires additional assistance during the day and to get back to bed at night. He most likely will have periodic medical complications common to those sustaining spinal cord injuries and rehabilitation will continue over his lifetime. While insurance covered immediate hospital and rehabilitation costs, there are sizable uninsured medical and personal care expenses and special rehabilitation program costs going forward. Such costs, confirmed by Spinal Cord Injury publications, suggest financial needs well over $1.0+ million.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

To help with these and other expenses (customized van, home modifications, therapies, and more) a fundraising campaign in Bryce’s honor has been established through NTAF - The Leader in Fundraising Assistance and Support for Transplant and Catastrophic Injury (www.NTAFund.org). Contributions are tax-deductible, qualify for corporate matching gifts, and are administered by NTAF for Bryce's injury-related expenses. We respectfully ask you to consider a financial contribution.

Make checks payable to: NTAF Northeast Spinal Cord Injury Fund
Note in memo section: “In honor of Bryce Rafferty”
Please mail to: NTAF
150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F-120
Radnor, PA 19087

For credit card contributions, please call 800-642-8399 or visit www.NTAFund.org and enter “Rafferty” in the patient box on the homepage.

Together we can make a difference for Bryce during this challenging time. Many friends have already offered wonderful verbal, e-mail, and financial support and we thank you to the depths of our hearts.

John & Meg Rafferty          Jennifer Zaccara
203.606.6354                     203.232.8535