Keith Smith

Keith Smith is 25 years of age and currently seeking treatment for a spinal cord injury at Project Walk.  Keith is a brother, a nephew, a grandson, a beloved son, and a father of three to Joshua (age 8), Jacob (age 6), and Ethan (age 2).  He has always been an active father, a caring and helpful person.  Keith has always gone out of his way to help those in need and never once has he shied away from hard work. His little boys look up to him and rely on him for their financial and moral support.  He worked two jobs to support his family and their needs. Keith was an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for the local ambulance company (AMR) and he worked at a retirement home caring for patients who have Alzheimer’s and dementia.  What changed?  A motorcycle, one he purchased early last year in a response to the rising prices of gas, his effort to make a smart economical decision for his family budget.

February 20, 2009 to be specific, Keith’s motorcycle crashed and he has no recollection of the accident nor was there any report of a hit and run, so what happened that morning will forever remain a mystery. What isn’t a mystery is how to cope with it now. Not only did Keith suffer many physical catastrophes (he fractured his entire face, broke his neck, collar bone, ribs, collapsed lung, the list goes on) his family suffered the brutal shock of facing life without him. How would those three little boys cope?   Doctors informed Keith’s family members to take two days, say their goodbyes, wrap it up and pull the plug- he was on a life support machine at the time.  According to the doctors, if Keith ever came out of his coma he’d be a vegetable; these doctor’s were certain of his extensive brain damage. Thankfully the family didn’t listen to the doctors, four days later Keith came out of his coma. He was on a ventilator and had a feeding tube in his stomach, again the doctors assured the family he would need these for life.  He didn’t. Not only are there zero signs of brain damage, Keith has full mental capacity, he breathes freely on his own, and can eat just like anyone else… well, almost, he does need a little help to eat, but that is because he has C-5 spinal chord injury and is paralyzed from the neck down. Keith cannot use his fingers or his legs, he says it’s like being stuck in concrete- he can feel his body in there wanting to move he just needs a lot of help to get it to that point.  Keith is now in a vigorous battle to regain his active lifestyle, not just for himself but for those little boys of his. He still wants to coach their softball team in a few years. The road to recovery is a long one and it’s been a  battle everyday since his accident, first with doctors, then with insurance companies (the worst was when his insurance company tried to say this was a pre-existing condition). Let’s get Keith back to being the loving father and kind person that he was.  Keith and his family need your help for his recovery, to  obtain successful  rehabilitation  at an intensive facility called Project Walk; located nearly 300 miles away from his home, not an easy trip for Keith as he still doesn’t have a wheelchair accessible vehicle.  Despite its success rate Project Walk isn’t covered by insurance, so while Keith has the ambition, motivation and determination that isn’t quite enough to see him through his recovery which is why we have created this page. Please, help him and his family to fight this ongoing battle, any contribution great or small would be most appreciated.  Keith’s refusal to give up, when he could so easily has been the most impressive, help him with his fight. Give him a fighting chance, one the doctor’s and insurance companies wouldn’t.

Family and friends of Keith Smith are raising money to pay for uninsured medical expenses associated with catastrophic injury.

Keith has chosen to fundraise with NTAF Catastrophic Injury Fund in part because NTAF provides both tax-deductibility and fiscal accountability to contributors. Contributors can be sure that funds contributed will be used only to pay or reimburse medically-related expenses. To make a contribution to this fundraising campaign:

Make checks payable to:
NTAF Southwest Spinal cord Injury Fund

Note in memo section:
In Honor of Keith Smith

Mail to:
NTAF
150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F-120
Radnor, PA 19087

For secure credit card donations:
Call 800-642-8399 or click the "CONTRIBUTE NOW" button.

For more information, please contact NTAF at 800-642-8399.

Thanks for your support!