Joshua Farris: Medical update and his GoFundMe for specialized therapy & treatment

[Sylvia]

This link was tweeted today from Josh's account: https://www.gofundme.com/joshs-eye-and-brain-therapy-fund

Approximately 2 1/2 years ago, Joshua Farris incurred a concussion during training quad. Josh was a figure skater with his sight set on this year's Olympic Games. That training day changed his life forever.

After many tests, 4 months in darkness, and a visit to the Cleveland Brain Clinic in Las Vegas, Josh was diagnosed with damage to his 6th cranial nerve. He underwent 18 more months of recovery. At that time the doctors cleared Josh to return to skating. Things weren't going right. Another visit to the doctor revealed damage to the right eye. Through compensating for the right eye, Josh herniated his disk between 6th & 7th.

Josh needs to undergo special eye and brain therapy to retrain his brain to use his right side and right eye. The testing and therapy costs $4,300. Josh can't work more than 2 hours a day because of the brain damage. Health Insurance does not cover this therapy.

Please consider contributing to Josh's much needed treatments today.

It happens to be Josh's 23rd birthday today.

 

[Aceon6]

He's half way there in less than an hour. Let's do this!

 

[ilovepaydays]

He's half way there in less than an hour. Let's do this!

This is so heartwarming it is going to make be cry. I'm about to donate as well!

 

[misskarne]

About to give what I can for the special young man who will always be one of my favourite people.

I had the great honour to meet Josh before I went to Boston in 2016 (pre-retirement announcement, but post-concussion). He was charming, humble, soft-spoken, polite, and an absolute sweetheart. At no point during our discussion did he ever let on that he was suffering with the demons in his head, and I went away convinced all would soon be well. He's not just a truly special skater, but a lovely human being.

If he never skates again, I just want him to be happy and healthy. Please...

 

[Lanie]

I’ll be donating. Praying for his recovery. He’s one special skater.

 

[Tavi]

Thank you, Sylvia - I hadn’t seen this yet, and am happy I was able to help, if only a little. Wishing all the best for Josh.

 

[LilJen]

Oh my GOSH, I was thinking about him the other day, thinking it seemed wrong to not have him here. I am so sorry to hear this! I hope the therapies bring him back to full strength.

 

[misskarne]

Over $3500 now. Come on skating community. #GiveJoshLove!

 

[suki]

About to give what I can for the special young man who will always be one of my favourite people.

I had the great honour to meet Josh before I went to Boston in 2016 (pre-retirement announcement, but post-concussion). He was charming, humble, soft-spoken, polite, and an absolute sweetheart. At no point during our discussion did he ever let on that he was suffering with the demons in his head, and I went away convinced all would soon be well. He's not just a truly special skater, but a lovely human being.

If he never skates again, I just want him to be happy and healthy. Please...

MissKarne, you were the first person I thought of when I read this. I know how much you love Josh's skating (we all do!), but hadn't realized you met him. Thank you for sharing your story with us. Josh is truly a rare talent and an exceptional human being.

 

[Aceon6]

Nearly $4,500 in two hours! (heading back to pairs)

 

[misskarne]

$4700 now!

 

[misskarne]

$5000!

In two hours.

*crying again*

 

[Sasha is DIVINE]

That is truly amazing how quick that was!

I hope he is able to find treatment that will help his quality of life.

 

[ilovepaydays]

Now over $5,500 in two hours! I really want this to be Joshua's best birthday present ever!

 

[Willowway]

Blew through the 5,000. goal and at 5,831. at the moment. I hope that this therapy has positive results for Josh. Aside from being a wonderful skater, he has always seemed like a lovely guy.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Oh My Gosh,

First who even knew all of this. Feel so so so so bad for him. He is just AWESOME!

Kudos that the fund was raised. Does he know?

 

[misskarne]

Almost at $6000 now.

 

[aftershocks]

Prayers Joshua! You are such a beautiful human being. Blessings to you, and I'm so happy for the love shown to you by the skating community, your friends and family. Wishing you a full recovery and hoping to see you back on the ice contributing to the sport in some way if that's your desire. My heart goes out to you.

 

[misskarne]

And there we go, blasted through $6000.

I'm just going to spend all day crying, aren't I.

 

[Allskate]

Thanks for posting the info. I know that the goal was $5,000, but I'm glad they're raising more because the therapy may end up costing more and I'm sure he has other medical costs.

 

[Aceon6]

I suspect a lot of people who are at Nationals wouldn't have seen it until just now. I hope they raise a lot extra so that he doesn't have to worry if he decides he'd like longer/different therapy.

 

[misskarne]

I suspect a lot of people who are at Nationals wouldn't have seen it until just now.

I was thinking that, but also, it's only 10:30am here on the east coast of Australia, so it's quite early on a Sunday in Asia. His Japanese fans might still just be waking up/only just seeing it as well.

 

[Vash01]

I donated.

 

[skipaway]

Me too.

 

[livetoskate]

I'll donate too. Poor guy-- it just goes to show how dangerous practicing quads can be. Just one bad fall can ruin one's career and health. (On that note, is the US male pairs skater who fractured his skull doing ok? I've forgotten his name-- Paul?)

 

[Aceon6]

I'll donate too. Poor guy-- it just goes to show how dangerous practicing quads can be. Just one bad fall can ruin one's career and health. (On that note, is the US male pairs skater who fractured his skull doing ok? I've forgotten his name-- Paul?)

Paul Binnebose. He has had lots of medical challenges, but the little info on him seems to indicate that he has a job and family.

 

[Lilia A]

I happily donated. We're at almost $6600 after only 4 hours. Seeing the skating community come together like this is very heartwarming and makes me very happy.
I had no idea Joshua was going through this. I hope more people continue donating so he can have the best possible treatment and care. Oh and happy birthday Joshua.

 

[livetoskate]

Paul Binnebose. He has had lots of medical challenges, but the little info on him seems to indicate that he has a job and family.

Good to hear he is ok and coaching in Colorado. I found this article from 2014 about him. Includes a cute photo of his sons:
http://skateguard1.blogspot.com/2014/06/interview-with-paul-binnebose.html

Getting back to Joshua Farris though, he was so stylish and there was a lot of buzz about him. I hope he gets all the medical treatment he needs to improve his quality of life.

 

[icie]

I'm there for Josh too.

 

[misskarne]

Yep, people are just hearing - it's now at nearly $7500!!!!!!!