Helping Chelsea and Kyle

Brace yourselves... this is a long one...and I'm asking for your help.

As some of you may know, someone very close to me, Chelsea Bullis, experienced a life-changing event on Sunday, June 10, 2012.  She and her boyfriend, Kyle, were in a terrible motorcycle accident that left them both seriously injured.  

Chelsea and her family have always been a part of my life. Chelsea's Aunt Anita was my first babysitter, and eventually her grandma, Maureen, and  her mom, Lynn,  took turns taking care of my brother and me.  Chelsea's Aunt Lainey is my mom's very best friend.  Chelsea, her brother Chad, her cousins Sam and Rachael and I all grew up together.  We took summer trips together, and when I was old enough, I began taking care of Chelsea, her brother and her cousins.  Chelsea and her family were so close to me that we began referring to each other as cousins...and 20+ years later, it is still how we refer to one another.  

So when I received the phone call telling me that Chelsea had been in a motorcycle accident, I was absolutely terrified. Chelsea and Kyle had spent that Sunday with friends, and on their ride home separated from the group.  Sometime shortly thereafter, they had their accident.  By the grace of God, passersby noticed a cloud of dust down the road, which turned out to be the aftermath of the crash, and went to investigate.  There, they found Kyle and Chelsea, who were both unconscious.  They called for help, and both were eventually sent to Froedtert Hospital via Flight for Life.  

Since both Chelsea and Kyle had suffered head trauma, they were placed in medically induced comas while doctors tended to their injuries (broken bones, road rash, lacerations, etc.) and determined a course of action for them.  Chelsea regained consciousness after a few days, but has no memory of her first 10 days in the hospital.  After 17 days, on her Auntie Lainey's birthday, Chelsea was discharged, and though she is no longer a patient in the hospital, her journey is by no means over.  She returns to Froedtert to receive therapy to help her recover from her brain injury.  Our hope is that, with the prescribed therapy, she can soon return to her normal life of working and going to school (she wishes to be a school counselor). Kyle took much longer to wake up as the swelling around his brain has resulted in a number of additional complications; he has, however, finally regained consciousness and has been moved to a Lakeview Specialty Hospital & Rehab, where he is making progress.  Both have a long road ahead of them. 

Chelsea will not be able to return to school or work while she recovers, and it is likely that Kyle will remain in the hospital for some time.  Because both Chelsea and Kyle have received and will continue to need medical care, we are planning a benefit in their honors; this benefit will be held at the end of September.  We hope to raise money to defray the cost of hospital stays and rehabilitation as well as assist them both in paying their regular bills while they cannot work so they can eventually return to normal life.  

As part of the benefit, we will be holding a raffle and silent auction.  Knowing that so many of you are very talented individuals (I've seen some pretty neat contributions to Uncle Mike's Bowling Event), I am hoping that I can call upon you to offer items for the raffle.  The more we can do to help Chelsea and Kyle, the better.   I know many of you have been praying for both Chelsea and Kyle, and I cannot begin to express my gratitude for that - it has done wonders for the both of them; they have both come so far! 

Chelsea and Kyle are great people who are now facing a very difficult road, and I know any support will be greatly appreciated by the Bullis and Castellion families.  

You can read more about each of their stories and recoveries by visiting their respective Caring Bridge pages (caringbridge.org).  You'll find their pages by entering the following site names: chelseamayb or kylecastellion

Thank you so much in advance, and keep fighting, Kyle and Chels!  

Kyle and Chelsea