Team Murtha: Update
James Murtha, Coach Boyd and fellow NCC alum Alex Boyd.
Sarah Schultz ’15
Staff Writer
Twenty-six year old NCC alumni James Murtha suffered a serious spinal cord injury breaking three levels of cervical vertebrae and shattering one of them, in October 2014 while mountain biking. Murtha was under the care of Craig Hospital, a hospital in Colorado known worldwide for dealing with spinal cord and brain injuries, going through recovering and going through rehabilitation. This month, he was discharged from Craig Hospital and has returned to Ypsilanti, Michigan. Murtha lives with his parents and is getting stronger every day, focusing on strengthening his right arm and using his mouth to operate a computer in his occupational therapy sessions. Strengthening his left arm is the next challenge along with the hope of feeding himself and brushing his teeth in the near future.
His family was able to celebrate a belated Christmas the first weekend he was back, however along with the joy of having him home, there are other challenges the family is facing. There have been heavy expenses to help in James’ rehabilitation and recovery. The Team JAMES fund launched in late November has already raised over $30,000 to go toward future expenses. James is well on the way on recovery and has been very determined and with help from family, friends, and the prayers of many, will improve even more every day.
To help support James and his family: https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/z2m6/team-james/updates/110765
Feature on James by Fox31 Denver:
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