By Carlena Knight
The family of national cyclist Andre Simon is continuing to lobby the public for their support as they continue to raise funds for his medical care abroad.
Simon was one of four cyclists who were struck by a vehicle while training on Mother’s Day but the 36-year-old, who suffered the most serious injuries, has remained in critical condition at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre (SLBMC) after experiencing head trauma and internal bleeding.
“Those periods of being out and being hit that way, you end up with a type of brain injury that where, at this point, they are trying to do a proper assessment of it,” Andre’s brother Dwayne Simon explained on Observer AM showon Tuesday.
“The condition is something referred to as DAI which is a type of Diffused Axonal Brain Injury and they are also suspecting a possible Hypoxic brain injury which is when the brain goes without oxygen. So, those two things are some of his challenges and they believe because his brain was without oxygen, it could have caused some damage. We are trying to find out the extent of that damage so we can try to see how best we can do treatment going forward.”
Andre, however, now needs intensive specialised care and must travel overseas to receive it.
This venture is a costly one and already a Go Fund Me account has been set up along with several other accounts at financial institutions in Antigua and Barbuda where persons can donate.
These institutions are Caribbean Union Bank AC# 20004089, the Community First Cooperative Credit Union AC# 098425, and the Eastern Caribbean Amaglamated Bank AC# 131003564.
Donations can also be made through the Go Fund Me page https://gofund.me/49f11497
To date, the Go Fund Me account has raised a little over US $25,000 of the $100,000 goal.
According to Dwayne, medical care abroad for brain injuries is quite costly as most medical facilities require a US $500,000 deposit.
This price does not include the specialized transportation via which Andre would have to travel.
Nevertheless, the Simon family is thankful for the public’s overwhelming support thus far.
“I think the public has been incredible. We are so appreciative of the public’s support and a lot of persons are trying to help. When I looked at [the Go Fund Me] over 200 persons have donated. There have been donations as well as prayers; they go a long way.
“There are a lot of persons who have been sharing and encouraging persons. I think people are incredible. We are really grateful that they have showed their support in that way,” Simon said.
It is the family’s hope that Andre would be able to travel to the US this week.