April 16, 2007                                                                                                                                  

Dear Friends,

            On April 2^nd of this year a dear family in the Orange County community went out to Dove Springs Recreational Area to spend the week dirt bike riding with family and friends.  They did not know that this day would change the course of their life forever.

 The Hoover family has been very active in the Tustin community.  They donate time and money to local churches and school activities.  They also are very active in Diabetic Research and Children’s Hospital of Orange County as Kathy and both of the children suffer from insulin dependent diabetes.  So you can imagine how expensive medical costs are for this family.

During the very first ride of the day on April 2^nd, Rod went riding with his son and two friends.  Then tragedy occurred.  Rod was thrown from his bike and hit the ground so hard that after being air lifted from the site, he suffered life threatening injuries.  He was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California where he underwent immediate surgery.  The injuries were so severe that the Dr’s were not to hopeful he would survive. 

The Dr’s took bone and cadaver bone to attempt to rebuild Rod’s neck.  He shattered his C2 through C5 vertebras.  He separated his spinal cord and fractured his lower back.  A Halo was put into place and that is how he lives.    After being released from Lancaster, he was sent back into his medical network here in Orange County.  He is home and has health care provided in house.  He sleeps in a medical chair in an upright position.  He has a long road ahead.