The Sports ministries of With Purpose International: Purpose Driven Baseball and Pro5 Baseball Academy are partnering with Project 34 (Trevor Williams (NY Mets) & Cory Hahn) to help raise the necessary funds for Grant Smith and his family to purchase a rehabilitation bike to help with Grant’s ongoing physical therapy. Grant played several seasons with Purpose Driven Baseball during his high school years and joined us in 2017 for our Summer mission trip to the Czech Republic and Spain. It was great to see Grant have the opportunity to play beyond high school at Brunswick Community College and then on to the College of Charleston.
On May 31st 2021, Grant was out on the water celebrating graduation from the College Of Charleston with family and friends. Grant dove off the boat and sustained severe injuries to his C5–C6 area of the spinal cord causing paralysis from his chest down. Grant can use his deltoid muscles and his bicep muscles. However, his triceps and finger movements do not work. Due to aspirating so much ocean water Grant’s lungs were really affected as well. Grant was put on a ventilator with doctors indicating he would be on one for life. While in the hospital both lungs collapsed, and then he developed ARDS. Miraculously, Grant pulled through and after a month of being in the Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Grant was flown to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta Georgia for more extensive care based on his spinal cord injury. Due to the muscles in his diaphragm and trachea not working, Grant had to relearn how to swallow food and after going 10 weeks without being able to talk he had to relearn that as well. During his five months at the Shepherd Center, Grant worked hard with his occupational and physical therapists. With strong faith and the will to never give up, Grant made strides each day. His goal to gain independence and live a healthy life was his determination.
Today, Grant continues to make strides working hard in therapy four days a week. He also works out with split ropes and hand weights at home. Doctors said he would not be able to use his wrists and he can! Having the use of his wrists, deltoid, and bicep muscles, Grant is building incredible upper body strength. Our hope is to help Grant have access to every tool available to help him continue to have the best neurological rehabilitation possible.
Please consider making a donation to help his family purchase the RT300 rehab bike. Like most specialized medical equipment, the RT300 is very expensive ($28K). Use this link if you would like to make a donation. Your donation is tax deductible and 100% of your donation will go directly to help Grant.