By Jessica Gregg
The prognosis for Dominic was not good. In March 2024, he suffered significant injuries in a car accident, including a traumatic brain injury, a broken spine and shoulder, a collapsed lung, and a damaged spleen.
“He was not expected to live,” his mom, Keri, says. If he did live, she recalls, he was not expected to regain his ability to walk.
Dominic, then 20, spent six weeks in an acute care hospital, where he underwent a seven-hour spinal repair surgery and began healing in the intensive care unit.
“We got to the point where we expected him to be able to comprehend us, but not respond to us,” Keri says.
An Incredible Recovery
We had a lot to be thankful for … .” – Keri
After being discharged from acute care, Dominic came to Kennedy Krieger’s inpatient Pediatric Rehabilitation Unit, where he participated in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and even music therapy. Both Dominic and his parents began to envision his life after these lengthy hospital stays.
“He made some good recovery. He could hold a conversation, and he had some movement in his right side,” Keri remembers.
The inpatient team was kind and listened to the family’s concerns, even helping them navigate insurance claims. After four weeks as an inpatient, Dominic transitioned to outpatient therapies and regained even more mobility. A year after his accident, he was walking, driving, and even heading back to work.
An Impressive Fundraiser
Keri decided those were all reasons to celebrate and started to plan a bull roast—a traditional approach to communal fundraising in Maryland—in support of Kennedy Krieger’s inpatient services. She and her family called on their friends and colleagues in the Baltimore area to lend support.
“We had a lot to be thankful for, so I wanted it to be successful,” Keri says.
Their request was met with an outpouring: The American Legion in Dundalk offered their hall for free. Girls in the Kitchen Catering pitched in, too. Keri’s employer, First Home Mortgage Corporation, donated; so did lots of their friends. “I felt like everybody I knew made a basket for the raffle,” Keri says.
Nearly 250 people came to the event, which raised $30,000 for Kennedy Krieger’s inpatient rehabilitation hospital.
“We are using the money to support our inpatients at discharge, and will support smaller purchases needed during their stay,” says Dr. Melissa Trovato, director of rehabilitation and outpatient services. “That includes walkers, forearm crutches, wheelchairs for our inpatients to use while at Kennedy Krieger, or even transportation home—anything insurance might not cover or that is needed more quickly than insurance will pay for it.”
The family is thrilled their gift is making such an impact, Keri says: “The opportunity to go to Kennedy Krieger was the biggest blessing.”
Above: Dominic and Keri