Denver to New Smyrna Beach – 11/4/21 Update

This post comes on the other end of Kevin’s journey home. However, before I get to the journey, I want to share a bit about his last week at Craig Hospital.

Last Week at Craig

Last week, Jack Lerner and his Mom came to visit Kevin! Their family have been amazing with their support in the last few months – Jack always lending and recommending movies, his Mom sending sweet baked goods and notes and their Dad helping Jack find all the best sports gifts.

Kevin and Jack went to see Dune at the local movie theatre on his birthday. Kevin said it went pretty smoothly and they both loved the movie. That night, Erickson and I joined the boys and Mom for a birthday dinner at a local taco place. 

Thank you all for the incredible birthday wishes you sent from all over the world. I know Kevin felt very loved.

On Friday, Kevin got lunch with the Lerner’s. Later that night, he went to see the Nuggets play with Jack and his friend Christian. He had a great time and we were all thrilled to know he was out at a game.

On Saturday, Erickson and I came to help pack and provide a visit from Butter. She curled up on his bed with him and they fell asleep watching the Gator game together.

Kevin’s Uncle Mike and Aunt Pam also came by to give Kevin love before they left.

The Flight Home

Flying home 10 bags of belongings/medical supplies and a Power chair weighing hundreds of pounds is no small thing. 

We were so lucky to have an amazing shuttle driver and Alison from Craig with us. 

The shuttle helped us get to the airport and check in our bags with ease. Getting through TSA was dicey, with Kevin’s security check taking triple our own time and involving an explosive test simply because he was in a powerchair. However, Alison assuring us that this can be standard took a lot of the anxiety out of it.

At the Gate, Alison, Mom and I got Kevin as prepared as we could. Alison and Mom had laminated care cards ready for storing his chair and all travel tools we needed.

In order for us to board, we preformed the transfer from his powerchair to an assistive tool called an Aisle Chair. From there we got him onto a travel pillow and into his airplane seat.  All of this had been taught to Mom and Kevin at Craig and I am so grateful for that consideration.

The flight went fairly smooth, Mom just had to figure out a strategy for Kevin’s essential weight shifts while in air. As always, she is a force of nature. 

When we arrived, we had some issues with Kevin’s chair not powering on and some of the parts being damaged. An Aisle Chair never arrived to get him out of the plane and this proved difficult, especially with one less pair of hands. 

Airlines were not required to report how many chairs are lost or damaged until 2018. Since then, we have learned that roughly 29 chairs or scooters a day (or 10,548 a year) were lost, damaged or stolen in 2019 alone. 

We were so lucky that we eventually got power to the chair so we could get it and Kevin to the car. It is my hope that including this description not only illustrates how amazing Kevin, Mom and the Craig staff are but also that it encourages everyone reading to look out for others when traveling in the future.

Dad drove the van the hour from New Smyrna to meet us. He helped get all of our bags packed in and 2 hours after landing we were on our way home!

Throughout the journey, Kevin endured all the anxiety and discomfort without a word of complaint. He has gotten through so much in the last few months and while I know he is in survival mode, I couldn’t be more in awe of him. 

Now that Kevin is in New Smyrna Beach with Mom and Dad he has time to finally rest. Between the three of them they will need to create a schedule and move towards things that bring them all joy. New Smyrna is a place that has always been special to us and I am so grateful that is where he will get to mend and reassess. 

I hope everyone who can visit in Florida goes to visit him. I hope you watch games and bring your dogs. I hope you make him laugh and lend a shoulder to lean on. I hope you remind him this is the start of whatever he wants life to be. 

Thank you all for all the strength, time and love lent over the last few months. When grief strikes, rearranges, dissembles, convenes like it has – you find who you can wholly count on. 

I will update here with significant updates but until then – much, much love. 

Katie and the Cavanaugh Family 

Kevin’s Donation Fund:

If you wish to make a donation to Kevin’s fund to assist with the cost of a beach powerchair, assistive home features/remodels, medications and other tools for his life ahead please select Kevin’s name on the drop down menu at the link below: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/t4f