Fynn Munro is a 12 year old boy that was very active
in every sport. He loved playing football,
basketball, baseball, wrestling; pretty much all
sports. Receiving many metals and trophies as
his abilities and talent grew with each year he
played. He is also an animal lover. He is a huge fan
of cars, trucks, muscle cars, engines. He can tell
you what kind of car just drove by, what engine it
has and probably how many of those cars were made in
a year. He loves all types of activities from video
games to winter sledding, summer swimming, tubing,
riding bike, fall hiking.
When asked what he wanted to do for this 11th birthday, he
said “Dad, you give me everything I need, I want to give
back. Let’s do something for the animals. So we rented out
the Colonial Theater in Norwich to host his birthday party
and asked for everyone attending to bring a donation for our
local SPCA. What child has a heart to want give back instead
of receive things for himself.
On November 22, 2016 his life changed forever. Fynn was
outside playing in the snow and attempted to do a front flip
off a picnic table into the snow. Something just about every
kid has done. He did not complete the flip and fell head
first into the snow, hitting the ground. He broke his C3-C5
vertebrae, severely bruising his spinal cord. He was
airlifted to Upstate Medical in Syracuse where emergency
surgery was completed to fuse his C2-C6 vertebrae and put
screws in his spine to stabilize his spine and spinal cord.
He is now a tetraplegic from the shoulders down and requires
24x7 care. A Facebook page, Friends Of Fynn, was set up so
that the family could give family, friends and his community
updates on how he was doing. Hundreds of people posted
prayers and well wishes for him. While I was reading each
one of them to him, he said “Dad, I have gotten enough
prayers, let’s send some to the other kids here – they need
them too”. Throughout all of this, Fynn has remained
positive and still wanting to give to others. While in
Upstate, there was a young girl admitted because she would
not eat and was losing weight and dehydrated. When Fynn
learned about her, he asked to be put in his chair and taken
to see her. He asked me to put some of his donut holes from
Dunkin in a container to take to her. We went to her room
and gave them to her and told her those were the best she
would ever have and then recommended a good pizza place to
order food from. 2 days later she was discharged from the
hospital as she started eating and drinking and was well
enough to go home.
He spent about 2 weeks in Upstate and was then flown by
medical plane to Shriners Children’s Hospital in
Philadelphia, PA where he received the care he needed for
rehabilitation. While in Shriners, he was put into an
intense physical therapy and occupational therapy program.
His family learned how to care for him in order for him to
come home to his family and community that loved him.
He was discharged on January 11, 2017 and sent home to
Norwich. Since coming home, it has been a very tough
transition. To date, Fynn still does not have a permanent
wheelchair, he is using a loaner from Shriners. Fynn and
myself recently had to attend a Fair Hearing in front of a
law judge to prove all medical necessity for the wheelchair
he needs because NYS is denying to pay for it. We are still
waiting to hear the decision from this hearing. We are still
using a temporary ramp for Fynn to enter and exit the house.
Fynn needs a new hospital bed that no insurance company will
pay for. The current bed he is in, the mattress is starting
to break down already because Fynn spends so many hours a
day in bed. There is no electric lift for safer transport of
Fynn from room to room. We do not have a vehicle to be able
to go anywhere. The only transportation Fynn has is a
medical transport company that will only take him to and
from his doctor's appointments. In order to obtain a
vehicle, I would have to buy one myself and then have the
modifications done to make it handicapped accessible for
Fynn. There are many financial burdens that are stopping
both Fynn and myself from having a better quality of life.
Even being on assistance from the county – it is not enough
to be able to obtain what is needed for Fynn. As it stands
right now, Fynn is home bound unless he has a doctor's
appointment.
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