A hockey mom in need

[PCM]

Although the events I'm about to relate happened hundreds of miles away in my home state of South Dakota, I'm posting here because I know the hockey community is an incredibly close and tight-knit family. There's a hockey mom and a hockey dad -- both high school classmates of mine -- who need our help and support.

On Feb. 5, Jeri Wilcox was driving home to Ft. Pierre, S.D., from a youth hockey game in Rapid City in which her daughter Kristin had participated. Also in the SUV were Jeri's sister Jean Denton and Kristin's friend Kayla Gabriel. According to an eyewitness, the vehicle skidded on some ice, hit a bridge and then rolled several times, landing on its wheels.

Three of the women were injured, but Jeri's injuries were by far the most serious. She suffered broken vertebrae in her neck and back, had a number of other fractures and received severe head lacerations. Kristin and Jean have since been sent home to recover, but Jeri remains in the intensive care unit of Rapid City Regional Hospital, 180 miles from home in Ft. Pierre. She has undergone surgery on her neck and back.

What makes this situation even more tragic is that Tyler Wilcox, the 19-year-old son of Jeri and Bob Wilcox, lost his three-year battle with cancer just before last Thanksgiving. He was a high school athlete and, like his sister, a hockey player. Both had attended hockey camps at UND. Jeri told me that Kristin some day hoped to play for the Sioux women's hockey team.

Two years ago when I asked Brad Berry if UND's players would autograph a Fighting Sioux shirt for Tyler, he went one better and had them sign a hockey stick for him, too. Jeri wrote to let me know how much her son appreciated the gesture and enjoyed the gifts. At that time, he had lost a leg to the cancer, so his hockey career was over.

Today, I received an e-mail from one of my classmates who lives near Rapid City. She had just visited Jeri in the hospital and wrote:

On my drive home I thought about a lot of things. One, how grateful I am that our class has pulled together like we have. Jeri and Bob are going to need any and all support we can give them, and raising money is something we CAN do, at this time when there is so little else that is needed (besides lots of prayers). I also thought a lot about people we all love, in our own lives...and I came home and gave my husband a big hug. Life is so fickle. Jeri and the others were just driving home from a hockey game...and one patch of ice and bammo, your life is changed forever. You just never know. And I thought about how Bob looked when he was looking at Jeri, and how privileged I was to witness such devotion, Bob's devotion to Jeri. Life never ceases to amaze me. And, when you think about all the trauma that Jeri has been through, what the human body can do. It's amazing.

Obviously, the Wilcox family will have substantial medical bills as a result of Tyler's illness and Jeri's accident. My class has set up a fund for them. If you would like to make a contribution, you can mail it to:

Class of '73 Wilcox Fund

Home Federal Savings

322 S. Coteau

Pierre, SD 57501

If you can't contribute but would like to send some words of support and encouragement to Bob and Jeri, you can address an e-mail to Jeri Wilcox through the hospital's Web site here. Anything you can do will be sincerely appreciated.

Edited February 24, 2006 by PCM

[Sioux-cia]

Thanks PCM. My check is in the mail. I just wish her the best. The family has my prayers as well.

[Cratter]

Paypal account?

[PCM]

Paypal account?

As far as I know, the only way to contribute at this point is through snail mail. Sorry.

[PCM]

If you can't contribute the the fund to help the Wicox's with their medical expenses, please take a couple of minutes to send Jeri Wilcox an e-mail of encouragement and support through the Rapid City Regional Hospital's Web site here:

http://www.rcrh.org/Patient/PatientEmail.asp

Bob Wilcox, Jeri's husband, prints out the e-mails and reads them to her. I think it would mean a lot to both of them to hear from hockey fans around the country.

Again, anything you can do will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[YaneA]

I am dropping a check in the mail, too. Life is uncertain and it can bring us much pain but the love of friends and family and the kindness of strangers is a powerful analgesic. My prayers are with them at this very difficult time.

[PCM]

Thanks for leading by example YaneA and Sioux-cia. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

[PCM]

For those who took the time to send an e-mail or contribution to hockey mom Jeri Wilcox, who was seriously injured in a Feb. 5 car accident in South Dakota, here's some information I received this morning from one of my classmates. (Bob and Jeri Wilcox's 19-year-old son Tyler, an aspiring hockey player, died last November after a three-year-long battle with cancer.)

Jeri is slowly getting better, and with that there is a whole new set of complications to deal with. They continue to bring her out of the pain meds a bit each day, and her awareness of her surroundings has made her very agitated. As Bob sez "she knows where she is now and she does not like it..." All of this is complicated more as she cannot talk yet, what with the trac and the feeding tube. Tomorrow morning early they are going to do a swallow test (before she is given any morphine), and if she passes that they will remove all of those tubes, and that should help a bit. Bob said that she has no awareness of the time that has passed, and probably a very muddled memory of what happened. And if you add to that what she has "overheard" while medicated (things like "She should have died" and "She looks just like Damien" and on and on) plus the grief she was suffering over Tyler and the pain she is suffering now, plus the affects of the meds I am sure she is confused and in a bit of a panic about what has happened to her body. Hopefully all of that will get better in the next few days.

I want everyone to know that your messages and contributions are tremendously appreciated and are making a difference. So thank you again.

I did talk to Bob a bit about fundraising, and showed him the amount that it currently in the fund. He was overwhelmed, and said to Scott with this huge Bob smile on his face "Our class is nuts...look at all they are doing". I asked about need, and he said that any and all help would be appreciated and is needed. Their bills are going to be out of this world. He said that they have had such help with things with Tyler that he has stopped being modest or acting like it help was needed, it is and he appreciates it so. So onward... One thing that really overwhelmed him was when I told him that he and Jeri would not have to worry about thank you cards that people from the class were taking care of that. He said that right up until this accident Jeri was still writing thank you notes for Tyler, that she had written over 2000. He had thought that when she found out of all the help she would be writing thank you notes for all of this too, and he was so glad she wouldn't have to deal with that, as it would worry her. So that was a great idea.

Amazingly enough, Jeri's life might have been saved by a quick-thinking passerby with a roll of duct tape.

We talked a bit about the accident, and how fortunate she was with the help that arrived on the scene. Evidently the first person there called someone (his sister maybe?) who knew what to do in really bad accidents, and she told him to go to his pickup and get the duct tape (someone should send this to the duct tape company) and duct tape Jeri's head to the headrest in the vehicle, and he did. This is what probably saved her range of motion, to say nothing about her life. Little things like that made the difference, and it is amazing when you think that the EMT's out of Phillip are people just like you and me who volunteer their time. You just have to be proud of small town South Dakotans.

[SFSIOUX#1]

PCM - thanks for the updates and posting on the forum. It makes the arguments on this forum seem trivial compared to the struggles some have to face in life. Please keep us posted like you have been.

[Sioux-cia]

PCM - thanks for the updates and posting on the forum. It makes the arguments on this forum seem trivial compared to the struggles some have to face in life. Please keep us posted like you have been.

Ditto, thanks PCM.

[rochsioux]

Best wishes for a full and complete recovery. Writing the check now.

[PCM]

My thanks, once more, to those who have made contributions, provided words of support or both. I'm really, truly overwhelmed at the response of the hockey community.

The last report I received is that Jeri Wilcox remains in intensive care. There were hopes last week that she could be moved out of ICU, but that didn't happen. The hockey mom is still fighting for her life.

One of my classmates who help set up the fund for the Wilcox family wrote the following:

Lots of people and groups, both from our class and Pierre, as well as some people from far away have donated to the fund. Stanley County School is having a fundraiser on March 14th and will deposit to the account. The Oahe Hockey Association nearly $2600 and is still raising money. It is truly a community effort that I am proud to have a small part in. We have a great class, and a great home town.

Thanks again to those who have offered support in whatever way they can.

[Sioux-cia]

Thanks for the updates PCM.

I knew an elderly gentleman, 80yrs old, who was in an accident who ended up under a tractor for several hours. He went into multi-system shut down. His wife refused to let the docs pull the plug. He came to visit us on his way back from vacationing in Florida six months later, wearing a super smile, a three piece suit and a great tan.

While there is still life, there is hope! She is in my prayers everyday.

[PCM]

According to the latest reports, Jeri Wilcox has been moved out of the Intensive Care Unit of Rapid City Regional Hospital. This is a very good sign that she's on her way to recovery. Total donations to the Class of '73 fund to help the Wilcox family now stand at $7,720.

Thanks once again to all of those who have graciously given to this cause or taken time to send Jeri some words of encouragement and support.

[PCM]

I received a brief e-mail update on Saturday from one of my classmates about Jeri Wilcox's condition:

I stopped in and saw her quick on Thursday. Oh my gosh, what a beautiful sight to see her sitting up and feeding herself. She knew exactly who I was and was her smiley 'ol self. She gets tired real easy Bob said, so I just stayed 30 seconds and went running off again. But she is beautiful!

Considering that Jeri had a broken neck, a broken back and numerous other injuries, this is great news.

Of course, the Wilcox family's medical expenses are considerable, so your help is still needed.

I put together a Web page to assist with the fund raising. It shows the Jeri (Milner) Wilcox that my classmates and I grew up with.

Jeri as a high school senior

[dagies]

Wow. That's great news, Pat. Thanks.

[PCM]

Wow. That's great news, Pat. Thanks.

Jeri obviously has a long road back to full recovery, but it's great news that her life appears to be out of danger.

[PCM]

I thought that everyone who assisted the Wilcox family either through donations or words of support would like an update how this fundraising effort has gone. On Saturday, there was a benefit auction for the family in Pierre, SD. Kathy Cruse, one of my classmates from the Riggs High School Class of '73, released the following statement:

The Wilcox Benefit Auction was a huge success! A rough tally shows us making $11,775 to add to the Wilcox Fund. Check out the fund balance after the deposit is made later today. We had a mini-reunion at Wegner Auto and had a great time. Jeri and her sister, Jean, were there for the entire auction, and Jeri addressed the crowd after the sale. She is doing great, and it was a joy having her there. Thank you everyone for your generous donations, contributions, and help.

This means that since the fundraising efforts of the Class of '73 began in early February, nearly $39,000 has been raised to to assist Jeri, Bob and Kirsten Wilcox.

Jeri returned to her home in Fort Pierre on April 5 following six weeks in the intensive care unit of Rapid City Regional Hospital. For anyone who doesn't know how or why all this began, click here.

Once again, a sincere thanks from the bottom of my heart. The support from the hockey community was simply phenomenal.

[Sioux-cia]

Thanks for the update, PCM. It's great to hear that she is out and about. While the amount of the fund sounds like a lot, knowing the cost of healthcare, I doubt that amount will cover more than a small amount of the deductible her insurance won't cover. BUT every little bit counts!!!

[PCM]

Thanks for the update, PCM. It's great to hear that she is out and about. While the amount of the fund sounds like a lot, knowing the cost of healthcare, I doubt that amount will cover more than a small amount of the deductible her insurance won't cover. BUT every little bit counts!!!

Very true. I know that there are several other fundraising events going on in the community that should help as well. Bob and Jeri are overwhelmed by the support they've received from people they don't even know.