For close to two months now, Kim Martin has has been in the intensive care unit at the Galway University Hospital in Ireland.
The veteran scuba diver, who lives in Baysville, Ont, is paralyzed from the chest down and needs the help of machines to breathe aftera diving accident. And because he doesn't have divers insurance, his treatment could cost him more than $300,000.
His fiancee, Kirstin Chadwick has been at his bedside every day, helping him come to terms with his new reality.
"It's is a long-term, life altering spinal cord injury," Chadwick said.
An injury he suffered while on a deep sea diving expedition with some friends on Aug.8. Doctors say he surfaced too quickly and suffered decompression sickness, or what divers refer to as "the bends."
Martin and his friends planned to dive down to the ruins of the Lusitania, a British ocean liner that was sunk by a German submarine during the First World War in 1915offKinsale, Ireland.
It's a difficult dive, well over a 100 metres down, but Chadwick says Martin had done similar dives many times before.
"He's been diving for over 30 years," she said.
But on the day of this dive something went wrong, and Chadwick says she's still not entirely sure what happened.
"From my conversations with the other divers, and from the crew on the boat that day," Chadwick said, "we can ascertain that Kim was not weighted appropriately for the dive."
Scuba divers use weight belts or other weighting systems to counteract buoyancy in the water. It'sparticularly important when ascending back to the surface, according to MarkPaszyn, the owner and lead diving instructor at Aquarius Scuba Diving Centre in Toronto.
"You come out slowly, and you spend so much time on the different steps," Paszyn said.
The weights help the diver stop and hover in the water for several minutes at a time,because the body absorbs nitrogen gas during dives, and the slow ascent to the surface gives it time to escape.
"When you do technical diving, you can not miss decompression stops," Paszyn said, "You have to do it."
If a diver resurfaces too quickly the nitrogen gas can expand and lead to decompression sickness.
Martin showed severe signs of the bendsshortly after the dive, and was immediately airlifted to hospital. He spent six days in a decompression chamber, in hopes of reversing some of the symptoms, but it had little effect.
"Kim has experienced what's called a spinal stroke, so that's a lack of blood oxygen," according to Chadwick.
Also, Martin had not purchased insurance before traveling to Ireland. Divers are commonly covered by the Divers Insurance Networkbut Chadwick says Martin forgot to renew his membership before the trip.
"It was something that I kind of nagged him about, and we had a couple of little tiffs about before the dive," she said.
Chadwick is expecting Martin's hospital bills to exceed $360,000, most of which would have been covered by insurance had Martin renewed his membership. But Chadwick saysnow is not the time to worry about that.
"All of the doctors and the nurses just reassure me, 'That's not your focus right now,'" shesaid. 'That's a bill that will come later;you really need to just be here with Kim.'"
Insurance would have also helped with the cost of repatriating Martin. To get back home, he a needs private plane specifically designed for this type of trip.
"It's a fully equipped ICU, with a ventilator on board and anything Kim might need in case of emergency," Chadwick said.
"There would be a doctor, and just in case something happened, there would be an ICU nurse."
It's also very costly. Chadwick says she's had a few quotes at more than $90,000 each.
Some of Martin's friends have started a GoFundMe campaign to help cover some of the costs.They're hoping to get him home as soon as possible. He's already missed two very significant dates.
On Sept.23,Martin celebrated his 56th birthday in his hospital room, and last month he and Chadwick were supposed to get married.
They considered going ahead with their wedding plans at the hospital, but Chadwick says they decided to wait until they get back.
"I just started to look forward to the new wedding," she said. "To be able to say for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, and how much those vows will really mean to Kim and I.
Go here to read the rest:
Ontario man could face more than $300K in hospital bills after diving accident off Ireland - CBC.ca
- Hungarian Spinal Cord Injury Patient - Stem Cell Treatment Experience - May 7th, 2011 [May 7th, 2011]
- Stem cell treatment for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)-Osama - May 8th, 2011 [May 8th, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Injury Patient after Stem Cell Treatment - Juan Carlos Murillo - May 10th, 2011 [May 10th, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Injury patient 10 years after injury after Stem Cell Treatment - May 10th, 2011 [May 10th, 2011]
- Rap Toward a Cure for Spinal Cord Injury - May 11th, 2011 [May 11th, 2011]
- Christopher "Kit" Bond - Spinal Cord Injury Stem Cell Patient - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- Stem Cell Treatment - Spinal Cord Injury (2) - May 21st, 2011 [May 21st, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Injury-After Treatment, Pt was completely paralyzed (2) - May 22nd, 2011 [May 22nd, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Injury-After Treatment, Pt was completely paralyzed (1) - May 23rd, 2011 [May 23rd, 2011]
- Dogs recover following new treatment for spinal cord injury - June 2nd, 2011 [June 2nd, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Injury Rehabiliation Success Story - June 3rd, 2011 [June 3rd, 2011]
- Stem Cells for Spinal Cord Injury: Community Outreach San Diego 2011 - Trish Stressman - June 7th, 2011 [June 7th, 2011]
- Stroke Client Gains Strength and Mobility in North Palm Beach Florida - June 9th, 2011 [June 9th, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Injury Chicago Rehabilitation Lokomat - June 10th, 2011 [June 10th, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Injury Treatment With Stem Cells - June 11th, 2011 [June 11th, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Injury Patient after Stem Cell Treatment - Wesley Hixen - June 12th, 2011 [June 12th, 2011]
- Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury - Injured Airline Pilot Flies Again - June 13th, 2011 [June 13th, 2011]
- David Chen: How would stem-cell therapies work in the treatment of spinal cord injuries? - June 17th, 2011 [June 17th, 2011]
- William Rader MD - Paralyzed Spinal Cord Injury Patient Walks Again - June 29th, 2011 [June 29th, 2011]
- The Spinal Cord Injury Treatment Team - July 4th, 2011 [July 4th, 2011]
- Introduction to the Bioness H200 Hand Rehabilitation System - July 14th, 2011 [July 14th, 2011]
- Organ repair using own stem cells -- brain, heart - Future Health keynote speaker - July 15th, 2011 [July 15th, 2011]
- 2011 Shriners Ride for Kids, Salt Lake City Utah. - July 17th, 2011 [July 17th, 2011]
- Degenerative Disc Disease: C5-C6 c6-C7 Treatment - July 18th, 2011 [July 18th, 2011]
- Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan's 60 Anniversary TV Commercial - July 18th, 2011 [July 18th, 2011]
- California Spinal Cord Injury Attorney: Obtaining damages for lifetime care. - July 19th, 2011 [July 19th, 2011]
- Physical and Mental Adjustments After a Spinal Cord Injury - July 19th, 2011 [July 19th, 2011]
- Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation - July 28th, 2011 [July 28th, 2011]
- SCI Treatment Center at the Claremont Club - July 30th, 2011 [July 30th, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Inury Patient at XCell-Center- M. Hasan - August 5th, 2011 [August 5th, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Inury Patient at XCell-Center- K. Potts - August 6th, 2011 [August 6th, 2011]
- Magee Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation and Toyota 100 Cars for Good - August 13th, 2011 [August 13th, 2011]
- SCI_Celine_French_ifting_her_arms.wmv - September 1st, 2011 [September 1st, 2011]
- New Treatment May Help Paralyzed Patients Move Again By Dr.Zaghloul ahmed - September 1st, 2011 [September 1st, 2011]
- Claire Marsh - Spinal Cord Injury Part One - September 6th, 2011 [September 6th, 2011]
- Coping with spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries - September 10th, 2011 [September 10th, 2011]
- Stem Cell Treatment - Spinal Cord Injury (3) - September 15th, 2011 [September 15th, 2011]
- Stem Cell Treatment - Spinal Cord Injury (1) - September 20th, 2011 [September 20th, 2011]
- Stem cell treatment by Adiva Health Care India after Spinal Cord Injury - September 22nd, 2011 [September 22nd, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Injury Documentary: You Will Never Walk Again, Part 1 - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- Claire Marsh Returns - Spinal Cord Injury Patient - September 25th, 2011 [September 25th, 2011]
- Spinal Cord Injury: Raising awareness about research and treatment for spinal cord injury - September 26th, 2011 [September 26th, 2011]
- Walking after Spinal Cord injury and Stem Cells - September 27th, 2011 [September 27th, 2011]
- New Treatments for Spinal Cord Injuries - October 10th, 2011 [October 10th, 2011]
- Claire Marsh - Spinal Cord Injury Part Two - Video - October 18th, 2011 [October 18th, 2011]
- Stem Cell Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury - Video - November 2nd, 2011 [November 2nd, 2011]
- Stem Cells - Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury - Video - November 2nd, 2011 [November 2nd, 2011]
- (Film Trailer) - The Spinal Cord Journey: Stem Cell Therapy Stories of Recovery - Video - November 27th, 2011 [November 27th, 2011]
- Stem Cell Treatment for T-6 Spinal Cord Injury - Video - December 7th, 2011 [December 7th, 2011]
- What is Project Walk Atlanta - Video - December 13th, 2011 [December 13th, 2011]
- Stem Cells Treatment for Spinal Cord Injuries, Successfully Results, Stem Therapy - Video - December 28th, 2011 [December 28th, 2011]
- Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury, India Mumbai - Video - January 6th, 2012 [January 6th, 2012]
- "April Crave", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - January 10th, 2012 [January 10th, 2012]
- "Lori Hammond", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - January 23rd, 2012 [January 23rd, 2012]
- "Chad C.""spinal cord Injury treatment" "spinal cord injury" "spinal cord injury recovery" - Video - January 23rd, 2012 [January 23rd, 2012]
- "Hugo Rodovalho", "Client Spotlight Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - January 27th, 2012 [January 27th, 2012]
- "Cecilia V.", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - January 27th, 2012 [January 27th, 2012]
- "Roy R.", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - January 27th, 2012 [January 27th, 2012]
- "Angela", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - January 27th, 2012 [January 27th, 2012]
- "Joey's Story", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - January 27th, 2012 [January 27th, 2012]
- "Spinal Cord Injury", "A Story Of One" - Video - January 27th, 2012 [January 27th, 2012]
- Spinal Cord Injuries - The Healing Center Project! - Video - January 28th, 2012 [January 28th, 2012]
- "Crystal H.", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - February 3rd, 2012 [February 3rd, 2012]
- "Dave D.", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - February 5th, 2012 [February 5th, 2012]
- "Brook", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - February 5th, 2012 [February 5th, 2012]
- "Ashley Vargas", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - February 6th, 2012 [February 6th, 2012]
- "Nathan Bayer", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - February 8th, 2012 [February 8th, 2012]
- "Annette Ross", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - February 8th, 2012 [February 8th, 2012]
- "Joe Guintu", "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - February 8th, 2012 [February 8th, 2012]
- "Trevor Comeau,"Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - February 9th, 2012 [February 9th, 2012]
- "Kyle Eade, "Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery" - Video - February 11th, 2012 [February 11th, 2012]
- Velomedix Receives IDE Approval to Evaluate the Use of Rapid Therapeutic Hypothermia in the Management of AMI Patients - February 14th, 2012 [February 14th, 2012]
- Neuralstem Announces Closing of $5.2-Million Registered Direct Offering - February 14th, 2012 [February 14th, 2012]
- Chamber May Open Window for Treating Spine - February 15th, 2012 [February 15th, 2012]
- InVivo Therapeutics’ CEO Frank Reynolds Scheduled to Appear on Fox News First and San Antonio Living - February 17th, 2012 [February 17th, 2012]
- High doses of 'load' slows loss of bone in spinal cord injury - February 17th, 2012 [February 17th, 2012]
- InVivo Therapeutics Announces Pricing of Public Offering of Common Stock - February 17th, 2012 [February 17th, 2012]
- High Doses of Load Slows Bone Loss in Spinal Cord Injury - February 21st, 2012 [February 21st, 2012]
- InVivo Therapeutics Announces Full Exercise of Over-Allotment Option - February 22nd, 2012 [February 22nd, 2012]
- InVivo Therapeutics Announces Net $18.1M In Offering - February 22nd, 2012 [February 22nd, 2012]