The Schroeder Family

On the 28th of February of 2023, Lucas’s dad had texted Wendy in the morning. He had already driven to work and wanted to let her know about the roads. We all know how the morning commute can be in February in Minnesota. But he had texted that the roads were pretty good. While there were a few slick spots, it wasn’t too bad.

Wendy wanted to bring Lucas to school. She preferred bringing him when the roads weren’t great. But Lucas persisted: “I promised, I’ll be really, really careful mom!”

That was the last thing he said to Wendy that morning.

Wendy got to work in Bloomington and was sitting in her car waiting… She hadn’t gotten a text message yet saying Lucas had gotten to school. She texted him but he wasn’t responding.

Wendy has a Ring doorbell at her house. She got an alert that someone was at the door... two Eagan police officers.

They informed Wendy that Lucas had been involved in a very serious car accident and she needed to get to Regions Hospital right away. 

Her entire world stopped.

Lucas was rushed into surgery almost right away from the Emergency Room. The doctors explained he had fractured ribs, a fractured skull, a broken upper pallet, and a bone in his wrist and hand was broken. He had a fistula above his right eye and had lost vision in that eye almost immediately. He had a very severe, traumatic brain injury and his doctors just didn’t know the extent of the damage yet.

Finally, Wendy and Lucas’s dad were allowed in the surgical ICU to see Lucas. Wendy walked into the room and just started sobbing…

“Right away I knew it was going to be a long run. They don’t give you a timeline with a traumatic brain injury. Everything varies.”

The first day that that Lucas was in the ICU, he did wake up and even gave a thumbs up. It shocked everyone. The doctors were amazed and Wendy was ecstatic. Then they received incredible news – there were no spine or neck injuries.

Lucas slowly started improving. On Wendy’s birthday, he sat up for the first time! She remembers it being the most amazing birthday present she could have gotten. Wendy explained, “But still we knew, life was never going to be like it was before the accident.”

Even after returning home, Lucas’s life is filled with outpatient therapy each week. He goes twice a week for occupational therapy, twice for physical therapy, and twice for speech therapy. He goes to a functional neurologist every other week. He has a neuro-chiropractor, and they have a physical therapist who comes to the home twice a week.

So when did Help Me Bounce enter the picture?

Wendy remembers talking with a friend she went to school with. She was asking how they could help, and Wendy didn’t know how to answer. She was just trying to make it through the days at that point. But then her friend suggested checking out Help Me Bounce.

Wendy researched Spare Key’s platform and decided to fill out an application. When she first set it up, Wendy thinks she added one month’s mortgage and thought… “We’ll see – I don’t know if I’ll raise this much…”

But the Schroeder Family received more than one month’s mortgage.

Wendy was able to raise enough funds to cover 9 months of her mortgage along with both her gas and electric bill for awhile. It was hugely successful and SUCH an amazing relief.

Knowing that her bills were covered and she didn’t have to worry about finances was a huge relief. And Wendy remembers how amazing it was seeing that generosity.

Today, Lucas is doing incredible. He has made a TON of progress. And he has made that progress in the comfort of his own home thanks to donors like you.