Concert set in support of paralyzed teen

SOLANA BEACH — A musical fundraiser is being held from 3 to 7 p.m. Feb. 20 at The Belly Up, 143 S. Cedros Ave., for Spencer Fox, a Cardiff resident and San Dieguito Academy ninth-grader who suffered a spinal cord injury in a snowboarding accident last February. Fox is the son of Vincent M. Fox of Encinitas and Celia A. Brewer of Cardiff.
The event will feature musical talents Combo Libertad and Los Beautiful Beasts. The event will feature silent and live auctions, opportunity drawings, and the chance to make a tax-deductible donation to the National Transplant Assistance Fund, of NTAF, Southwest Spinal Cord Injury fund in honor of Spencer Fox.
Spencer was 13 when he was catapulted head first into an icy snow bank while snowboarding. He broke his neck at the C4/C5 level and suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury, leaving him a quadriplegic with no sensation below his chest, able to move only his left forearm and dependent on a ventilator to breathe.
While Spencer’s initial prognosis was grim, he can now breathe on his own and he has sensation throughout his body. He has some movement in every limb, can propel his own wheelchair and can even wiggle some fingers. Spencer is able to complete homework independently using an iPad. Unbelievably, in therapy Spencer is able to stand on his own two feet and take several unassisted steps.
Even with health insurance, Spencer still has many uninsured injury-related expenses such as his rehabilitation therapy and the costly home care provider costs —expenses which currently total approximately $48,000 a year.
A fundraising campaign in Spencer’s honor was established last year with the NTAF Southwest Spinal Cord Injury Fund to help with uninsured injury-related expenses. NTAF is a nonprofit organization that has been assisting transplant and catastrophic injury patients with fundraising for more than 26 years. Donations are tax-deductible and are administered by NTAF for injury-related expenses only. Donations can be made to: “NTAF Southwest Spinal Cord Injury Fund” with a note in the memo section: “In Honor of Spencer Fox.”
Mail to 150 N. Radnor Chester Rd. Suite F-120, Radnor, PA 19087. For credit card donations, call (800) 642-8399 or visit www.ntafund.org and enter Spencer Fox in the patient box on the NTAF homepage.
Spencer’s story has been chronicled in his CaringBridge blog at www.caringbridge.org/visit/spencerfox. For more information, contact Celia Brewer at (760) 805-5914 or Kaye Hentschke at (858) 692-0885.