Michael Bartolo, Afghan War Hero was critically injured on September 6th 2013 in motorcycle accident.  He suffered multiple injuries and a traumatic brain injury which has left him in a minimally conscious state. He is unable to walk or talk and requires constant nursing care. 

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

UPDATE -4-1-20 - First, we hope and pray everyone is safe and this crisis passess quickly.

As a result of the virus, Michael and the entire facility he is in has been locked down have stopped all visitation. This has been so stressful for us not being able to be with him everyday as we have for the past 6 1/2 years. The staff has been so kind to briefly face time with us almost everyday. However, while this provides some comfort, it is also compounds our stress. As we often see the confusion and sadness in his face as we believe he does not understand what is happening, we watch him trying to say something and often see tears in his eyes. Which is truly heartbreaking. My wife struggles daily with not being able to help him with his daily oral and personal hygiene. As each day she would clean his mouth and lips and shave him. I struggle with not being able to help him by repositioning him in his chair. as we often see that he is positioned poorly and either leaning to one side or slumped down in his chair. We do understand that the staff is overworked and very unstaffed, so it hard for us to be too critical of them and we have to tactfully ask them to reposition him.

We do sincerely appreciate all they do to take care of our Michael. Many of the staff treat Michael as if were their son. Many call him their "baby" which is so sweet and heartfelt.

We also pray everyday that the virus stays out of the facility as it is so very dangerous for all the patients there, especially Michael.

We did get to physically see him 2 weeks ago as we were allowed to transport him to Lutheran for his monthly baclofen pump refill. We are hoping we can do the same this coming month as his next appointment is on April 22nd.

We are sending our prayers and support to everyone to stay safe and we all practice social distancing so we can beat back this virus once and for all. .

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