Seventeen year old Gavin Kamoschinski was left paralysed after a diving accident in Okanagan Lake.
Image Credit: Jeremy and Lisa Kamoschinski, GOFUNDME.COM
September 20, 2023 - 7:30 AM
Friends on GoFundMe have raised over $100,000 to support a 17-year-old Kelowna boy who was left paralyzed after a freak diving accident in Okanagan Lake.
On Aug. 2, Gavin Kamoschinski was enjoying a day at Hobson Beach in Kelowna with his family.
However, that day “the Kamoschinskis faced the unthinkable”, their friends wrote on the family’s GoFundMe page, as Gavin dived off the dock and broke his neck.
Gavin was rushed to Kelowna General Hospital before being flown to Vancouver General Hospital to undergo a 5-hour surgery. He suffered fractures to his C5, C6 and C7 and lost all movement in his hands and legs.
“He needs a miracle. And we are believing this for him,” friends wrote.
Gavin is a well known face within the community, mostly for his talents as a budding athlete. Before his accident, he had been working towards a promising football career and training in Vancouver with the Notre Dame Jugglers.
Gavin spent his seventeenth birthday in hospital, surrounded by family and friends, watching videos sent to him by his fellow teammates and coaches.
“#FOOTBALLISFAMILY took on a whole new meaning as past and present teammates along with coaches sent in videos and messages cheering him on,” Jeremy and Lisa Kamoschinski, Gavin’s parents, said on GoFundMe. “Some of you even sang - brave and entertaining! Nicely done. You definitely brought a smile to his face.”
On Sep. 8, Gavin’s family provided an update stating that Gavin's condition had improved. His feeding tube was removed and he was finally able to talk again.
However, Gavin is still heavily reliant on a ventilator. His family said that he is working hard to get to a point where he can swallow on his own and start eating again.
“We’re hoping that soon enough he’ll be enjoying some sort of food and flavour,” his parents said. “The day-to-day trials and measurements are tedious and tiring but he’s pushing through in true Gavin form.”
Some of the most positive news Gavin's parents shared was that the teen was regaining sensation in his limbs.
“Gavin has had some upper body movement with more dominance on his right side than his left. He’s getting more sensations again with the right side being dominant. As he says, my left side is still a bit sleepy,” they said. “Where the recovery ends up we have yet to see, however we are taking the little wins one at a time.”
Since the Gavin’s GoFundMe was created on Aug. 4, it has received an enormous response.
The total donation now stands at over $107,000, with multiple large donations between $1000 - $25,000 being made from anonymous strangers and friends alike.
Gavin’s story has inspired a surge of goodwill within the community which has left his family overwhelmed with gratitude.
“We are so overwhelmed by the generosity & outpouring of love. This means more than you know - and although we don't have the words..... please know our hearts are so full. The messages. The stories. Gavin's Football Communities (the Okanagan, Vancouver & Calgary). Your prayers. Your Hope. All of it is carrying us right now," Jeremy & Lisa Kamoschinski said.
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