Dear friends and family, I know it’s been a while since Lianne had an opportunity to update all of you but she’s been extremely busy. Please read further and I will explain. For those who don’t know exactly what happened to Remington, I want to briefly recap all the events from the accident to today. In July, Remington was in a terrible car accident where he severed his spinal cord at the C5-C6 vertebrae. The result has left him quadriplegic and this could be his fate for the rest of his life. Doctors have told us he has less than a 1% chance of walking again. To make things worse, he has minimal usage of his fingers due to the extent of the injury. He cannot feel very much below his chest and he cannot do the simplest of tasks like controlling his bladder and bowel movements. He cannot brush his teeth, take a shower or use a computer without aid. All day long he either sits in bed or in his wheelchair. It’s very difficult to see his body slowly deteriorating. At times he is uncomfortable or in pain because he has pressure sores all over his body. At night he has problems breathing because of a phlegm build up that he cannot control without aid. He has sleep apnea and needs a breathing apparatus to keep him breathing through the night. Unfortunately many people do not know the extent of his injury and how much people around him have to sacrifice. I have been with him almost every day since the accident and I know how difficult it is for him not to be able to do the simple things we take for granted. Although his optimism is truly inspiring, he acts frustrated and depressed at times, because he can’t do simple tasks like opening a chocolate bar wrapper or holding a fork to eat because he cannot grip things. Lianne, being the wonderful sister that she is barely leaves his side. After work she goes straight to the care facility to take care of Remington. All day long she exercises and cares for him. When I drive her home she barely has time to wash up and do a few errands before she passes out from fatigue. I fear that she is slowly wearing out due to the burden that is placed on her shoulders. She loves her brother so much and would rather sacrifice her well-being in order to make her brothers life a little bit better. For those of you that don’t know, there is no apparent cure for the injury Remington has sustained. To make things worse, the therapy provided at the rehab center is not enough. A surgeon told us that a quad/paraplegic should be getting at least 3 hours of physio per day. The one hour a day he gets is insufficient to make much progress. This prompted us to seek alternative treatment (massage, acupuncture, physiotherapy) privately for him. I’m sure that some people may wonder why he needs all these different forms of treatment. Our goal is to be pro-active in dealing with his injury as much as possible, because we want him to have the best life he can regardless of the circumstances. We are hoping for the best but we cannot just sit here and wait for something to happen. We strongly believe that alternative medicine would help him as we saw a lot of improvement with his movement and sensation (even below his point of injury) after having intense acupuncture treatments. We hired an acupuncturist from Hong Kong who came here for a little over a month and the results were nothing short of a miracle. Some of you are wondering why we needed someone from Hong Kong but we couldn’t find anyone locally that was capable of helping Remington with his type of injury that is so severe and medically perplexing. Lianne and I contacted many acupuncturists but not one was willing to work on the spine directly and this is the type of treatment he needs in order to have any chance at improvement. Because of the acupuncture, Remington has been able to move his feet a little and feel warmth all over his body! This is something the doctors predicted would never happen due to the area his spinal cord was severed. Along with the acupuncture treatment is a strict exercise regimen that consists of various exercises that are both tiring and cumbersome. However, without these treatments and exercise due to the severity of his accident, he has no chance of recovering. It’s really hard to explain in a short email but picture lying in bed all day long and not being able to move your body. If you don’t try and send the signals to your brain, your brain will learn to adapt to the movement that you have, making it virtually impossible for spinal cord injury patients with severed spinal cords to make any improvements at all. His brain still has the ability to send signals all over his body so he needs to exercise as much as possible. The insurance company is not providing or reimbursing Remington for his expenses and he won’t reach his settlement for another 2 or 3 years. All that he is given is a portion of his working wage as part of his monthly work loss compensation and that’s what he uses to get by. This money is what we use for all his different treatments. Sad to say, it is not even enough to cover food, transportation and other personal needs. The reason why I have chosen to disclose all this information is because Remington and Lianne really need our consistent love and support. People ask what can they do to help but honestly, all you need to do is visit them at the GF strong care facility from time to time and to please be consistent with your visits. Remington is sick of the hospital food and food is one of the joys that he can still appreciate to the fullest. So I suggest bringing something for him to eat. If you can’t make it due to geographical distance, please call to see how Lianne and Rem are doing. A few elders from Lianne’s church come to visit us once a week and I can’t tell you how much that means to her. Lianne’s number is 1 604 836 8113 and Rem’s number is 1 778 882 5436 - his mom bought him a Bluetooth headset so he can receive calls now! If you would like to email them, Lianne’s email is liannesiy@yahoo.com and Rem’s email is Remington_siy@yahoo.com he checks his email regularly. A few of us here in Canada are trying to organize some form of fundraising here and all I ask is that wherever you are, please consider doing the same and keep Lianne and Remington in your thoughts. I’m trying to get Remington’s bank account information, so if anyone wants to make a donation please send me an email and I’ll get you the information. Feel free to contact me anytime and I would love to exchange any ideas you may have. If you live in the lower mainland and would like to participate in a chocolate fundraiser my friend Deborah has organized, please call or email me. Some of you may know I am currently a Real Estate agent with Macdonald Realty in Richmond. To do my part in our fundraising crusade, I want to donate a significant amount of commission I make from any sales referred to me by any of you. So without sounding like I am advertising myself, please keep me and Remington in mind if you or anyone you know is thinking of buying or selling Real Estate. I promise I will try hard and do my best to make a difference for Rem. Warm Regards, Sterling Wong Real Estate Consultant Macdonald Realty Westmar #203-5188 Westminster Hwy.
Richmond, BC V7C 5S7
Cell: 604.836.0506 Homepage: www.sterlingwong.ca
“NO PRESSURE, HONEST RESULTS” | 
