Jake’s Coming Home & A Special Thanks

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Jake got to leave the hospital for the second time on Christmas. It was the first time he got to ride in a car. It was awesome having him in my passengers seat finally! We had about a 25 minute drive from the hospital to our Uncle’s on Christmas day. Jake was making sure I was going the right way. He immediately wanted to know what road we were on so he could get his bearings. That’s Jake for ya.

Felt pretty powerful. He inspires me every day. It’s amazing to see someone go through what he’s gone through while being so humble about it. He’s rather hard on himself when he misses a pool shot or anything else he used to be good at. I tell him that’s what makes him great. You can only become great if you’re constantly pushing yourself beyond your current ability.

We got to play some pool and ping pong together. It was an awesome feeling to be able to do that again. Especially since there was a day when I thought that would never be possible. His eye hand coordination was totally there. We were able to volley quite a bit in ping pong. It wasn’t quite like the old days where you could almost see smoke coming off the ball but his skills are clearly still there. He has overcome the odds once again. Our family members were very excited to see him out and about on Christmas. What a perfect day to be released from the hospital.

This picture is of Jake, my cousin Ben and I. Everyone thinks Ben and I look alike. Do you see it?

Here is us again with our Uncle Jerry. He is my dad’s brother. It was great spending Christmas at their house this year. We had a great time catching up and celebrating Jake’s recovery together. Most of us celebrated, Jake couldn’t consume any beverages just yet 😉

Now that Christmas is over, we have been informed that Jake will be leaving the hospital soon. They had to run a final cat scan on his neck to make sure the fractures have healed properly. The neck brace has been bothering him ever since he woke up. As you can see from the pics, he had to wear it at Christmas as well.

Welp, today he gets to take it off! I just got a call from my mom saying that he gets it off. He also sent me a text telling he how great it felt. He will be leaving the hospital at 3pm today and will be coming home! They have to run a few more tests before he can leave.

It’s incredible news and I wanted to get this out to everyone. This journey is coming to a close. Although it’s not completely over yet since he still has some recovering to do, it does feel amazing to bring him home. He finally will get to sleep in his own bed!

Thanks again and again to everyone tuning into this blog and for all of your support. It’s been incredible.

I’d like to give another special thanks to the following:

• Thanks to Brothers Purdue for the fundraising events
• Qdoba for the fundraising event they had in Lafayette
• Sigma Phi Epsilon – Purdue: for raising money on Dad’s weekend and donating to Jake (I was also a Sig Ep – Fall’05)
• Everyone who visited the hospital

Mike Cunningham

• The nurses at each hospital for being so amazing (we will be bringing Jake around for visits)
• Everyone who donated on Fundly
• Everyone who purchased merchandise at www.wakejake.com
• The special Canadian who bought a shirt 😉
• Dailydot.com for posting about a Cinemagram that I made of Jake
• Allthingsd.com for including another one of my Cinemagrams of Jake laughing in an article
• Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Cinemagram, Fundly, WordPress for making it possible to spread the word.
• The Works IT (Go check out my good friend Ian’s website) He has helped a ton in making wakejake.com possible
• Onnit Labs for Alpha Brain
• Underground Printing in Lafayette for making the shirts.
• The Eibling Family for the support (they even invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner) – Especially Betsy!!! 😉 (pic below)

That’s all I can think of for now. If you see that I’m missing someone please let me know and I’ll add them!

Keep the good vibes flowing throughout your own lives and into 2013.

Much Love! Have a happy new year!

-JT