Do they know if there is severance to the cord yet? Or is there too much swelling to tell? If the spinal cord is in tact and the swelling is causing the paralysis, that gives a glimmer of hope.
So heart breaking and terrifying. This can happen to any of us. Whether its a Grand Prix jump or a 2 foot vertical. All it takes is landing in just that right spot, in just the right way…
Can we rephrase ? We’re not fund raising for health. We’re fundraising for the hard costs - hospital room, surgery room, professional services (doctors, nurses, first responders), diagnostic testing, lab work, xrays, medications, syringes, IV set ups, etc. No national health insurance policy would cover 100% of these costs.
Actually I suspect that more so even than deductibles and subsidizing other partially covered items, the money they are receiving from the fundraisers will have to go to things like costs of staying near him while he’s hospitalized or in a rehab facility, costs of modifying their home to accommodate his new needs, extra nursing care or equipment after he leaves the hospital, replacing lost income to pay the bills and keep the farms running since he can’t work and didn’t have disability insurance, etc . . . The costs beyond even the best insurance would be staggering and wide-ranging, and now there is no income coming in to cover the normal bills 
Wouldn’t they have income from Babington Mills that would provide some support?
What’s your point? The Babington family income is none of our business and not a single one of us needs to know those details to understand that Kevin, his wife, and their children are facing total life changes that most of us can’t possibly understand, financial and otherwise. And unless you live under a rock in the middle of nowhere, you can’t possibly think that a top level jumper rider could ever afford on his own to pay out of pocket for the medical bills and other costs associated with this type of injury.
My goodness, there’s no reason to be so rude!
it’s a simple question. And no one here is suggesting the things you have (re you jumping to conclusions). Please direct your general anger and frustration elsewhere. There are plenty of positive reasons why the question would be asked . It’s unfortunate you’ve apparently chosen to not see them.
Highly doubt the feed is bringing in that much income. His bread and butter was training/showing/sales. That’s got to be pretty intuitive to anyone who knows him at all
Kevin and Diana must be absolutely devastated by this terrible injury. It doesn’t matter what your income is, unless maybe you’re a movie star, you can’t possibly have the money to pay for this and in any case, the fear about the complete loss of the life you once had is even worse. As someone said above, no health insurance is going to take care of all the ancillary expenses, either.
All we can do is pray, donate, and take a moment to reflect that “there but for the Grace of God go I…” It’s the dark thought that lurks in the back of the mind of any horse person.
Let’s also take a moment to feel some sympathy for Micheal Villancourt also. (Someone said he was the course designer). How horrible to know you were in a sense responsible for an accident like that, no matter how many times you measured the distance and how many combinations made it through safely.
I feel for this family, I can’t even imagine what they are going through! As someone who works for a health insurance company, I can say this will cost them a lot! Depending on their insurance they will likely hit a max out of pocket and their insurance will start covering things at 100% BUT those are only services they deem absolutely necessary at the Drs they choose… so if there’s a specialist or an “elective” procedure, or rehab that does more than basic rehab - this won’t be covered, there’s a lot that you’d be shocked insurance won’t pay for.
on top of that your looking at home modifications, in home care givers, housing for family members if they don’t live near the hospital or rehab… the list goes on and on!
Im sure they will have some income from Babington mills but I doubt it will come close to covering the costs for the services they will want to give him the best chance at a quality life.
Not to mention, I assume they have horses of their own (his daughters and wife)?? Without his income as a professional that’s a HUGE expense!!
I hope he recovers from this well enough to live a quality life, my heart breaks for him and his family
It sounds like they’re interested in being involved in studies/trials for new treatments, as well, which I would think insurance will balk at.
They have such a tough road ahead 
it is very sad. but I hope that they remain optimistic. It is in the very early stages of healing right now. the fact that he is breathing on his own is very very good. The coming weeks will be crucial. Lots of healing and once the swelling reduces from the surgery and the initial injury, there can be some good improvement.
I cant imagine what his family is going through. Lots to navigate right now. But I hope the continue to remain optimistic and let the body do some healing in the coming months. He can certainly regain some feeling and movement. I have seen it happen with spinal injuries that appeared to be completely paralyzing .
Continued thoughts and prayers. A long road ahead. But need to continue to focus on the positive.
I’m sure the hospital he is at will help his family with some alternative to keeping them near him without having to stay in a hotel.
The trauma center near us has the Ronald McDonald house ( and a few others) that families can stay at free for months at a time to be near loved ones in hospital or rehab care. It’s run on community donations.
Praying for him & his family
“this won’t be covered, there’s a lot that you’d be shocked insurance won’t pay for.” Try us…isn’t that the point of insurance companies…to try and avoid paying out. 😔
Almost no one reads all the fine print in their insurance policies (hence the acronym TLDR.)
But as others have pointed out, at best health insurance generally covers only “reasonable and customary” charges for medical care. Those are for accepted therapies and procedures; they generally don’t cover anything considered experimental (clinical trials, for example.)
Most health insurance policies do NOT cover things like custodial care - help with bathing, dressing, using the bathroom and so on. This can be a huge ongoing expense and less than 10% of the population purchases long term care insurance, which is typically the coverage that pays for assistance with “activities of daily living.” (Medicaid does cover some of these costs if someone qualifies.)
Very few professional horsemen have disability insurance. The last stats I’ve seen suggest that maybe a third of employed people have long term disability coverage, and that is almost always through an employer.
I am not aware of any insurance product that covers costs such as modifying a home for a newly disabled person, obtaining modified vehicles, housing for families near treatment facilities, etc. Those are also significant expenses.
My heart goes out to this horseman and his family. SCIs are devastating injuries and for an active young person like Kevin, the impact is obviously enormous. His wife has written that he had a complete injury to his c-spine which is unfortunately a very challenging situation. That may be why they are considering the avenue of clinical trials. Keck Medical Center recently announced some very promising results from their new stem cell therapy, but I don’t know if that procedure would be of value to someone with a complete injury or not. (https://news.usc.edu/107047/experimental-stem-cell-therapy-helps-paralyzed-man-regains-use-of-arms-and-hands/)
Even if you assume there is still some level of income coming in, it is not hard to imagine that without Kevin’s participation, that cash flow will be significantly reduced while a lot of farm costs will not be correspondingly reduced. And, their daily cost of living just went up exponentially under any circumstances, and it sounds like they will be navigating that indefinitely. Without disability or long term care insurance, it is not hard for me to imagine that over the long haul they will need every penny of what has been donated. I don’t know them at all, but I felt compelled to donate after reading his wife’s pained FB post, what a tough road they are on.
Folks, before this degenerates into screaming, yelling and snarking at each other about the failure of our medical health care insurance system to address life altering injuries, maybe we should use this space to rationally figure out ways the horse community can meaningfully address the reality of horse sport injuries effects on riders and their families. The Injured Jockey’s Club in the UK came as a way to help injured jockeys IN A COUNTRY WITH NATIONAL HEALTH CARE. So if the Brits can recognize the limitations of health insurance for all by this fund, perhaps we can look at ways to set up something to help our community since I doubt if this forum will be able to solve the health crisis by screaming, yelling and snarking. Just my view.
Um, it was your view that started that discussion when you threw the concept of national healthcare into the mix so I’m not sure why you are now complaining when other people picked that up and weighed in. . . Perhaps starting another thread is a better idea if you want to have that discussion, as I am sure there are plenty of opinions and possibly some productive ideas out there, but it seems like this thread should stay focused on the Babington updates and not spin off into other things IMO.
The Ronald McDonald houses are fabulous, I volunteered at my local one for years and had more than one close friend who unfortunately needed to stay at others over the years. But they are focused on housing for families of sick children at the childrens’ hospitals, so I don’t think would be available in the Babingtons’ situation. Which does make me curious though whether there are similar options for families of adult patients at other medical facilities.
Well, I’m no expert on insurance, but we had a young man in our town who suffered a spinal cord injury. From the fundraising information, I remember some of the biggest expenses were a wheelchair van (even used it was about $40k) and modifications to the house to allow him to live there (wider doorways, ramp, wheel-in shower, etc.) None of that was covered by insurance.
It is sad beyond words. I wish science could solve this type of injury that so often happens to young people in the prime of life.
Please don’t eat me for asking, but:
was this accident due to a course design flaw?
it doesn’t matter in the end, but I suppose it’s only rational for people to want to know why things like this happen, aside from the obvious answer of “it was a freak accident.”
ive been sending positive vibes to Kevin and his family. I simply cannot imagine what they’re going through. I am obviously hoping for a recovery of sorts for him, but I am also hoping that their financial burden is not too great in this emotionally and physically troubling time.
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