Bryce J. Rafferty

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

• Plan to live in Denver after college.
• Recent video on Pikes Peak drive/climb.   http://vimeo.com/33085227.
• Finishing Colorado College coursework in January 2012, graduating in May 2012.
• Bryce returned to Colorado College on Thursday, August 26th, 2010, paralyzed from the chest down, less than one year after his accident.
• Historical video on vimeo.com http://vimeo.com/22866712  Hint: If the video stutters, click pause for 10-15 seconds to let the download get ahead, then hit play again.  It’s a large HD file.

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 was 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, 2010.

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 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 returned 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 lead guitar player, avid hiker, and taught sailing and swimming at Camp Agawam, Raymond, Maine during the summer of 2009.  He hoped to start a band his junior year at college after successfully writing, recording, and producing a CD of his own 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 uses both motor and manual wheelchairs.  He requires additional assistance during the day for range of motion exercises and to get back to bed at night. He will have periodic medical complications common to those sustaining spinal cord injuries and rehabilitation will continue over his lifetime. While insurance has covered immediate hospital and some 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.  If your heart moves you, please 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 all to the depths of our hearts.

John & Meg Rafferty          Jennifer Zaccara
203.606.6354                     203.232.8535