There have been people at shows big and small who have been fundraising and donating to Kevin. In addition to the jumper riders at Saugerties and Spruce, I believe at least one of the hunter riders was also donating 10% of the winnings from the big class at Saugerties over the weekend.
And people at other shows have been selling armbands or pins for exhibitors to wear, and donating the money to Kevin. I believe there will be silent auctions for at least two different shows this weekend, at Aiken and at the Gold Cup at Old Salem. It is really heartening to see so many people making an effort to help him.
And here is a video of the mare who will be in the auction on Friday at Old Salem, with all the proceeds from her going to Kevin. She looks like she will make a lovely horse for someone.
Ok, get ready. The giant racehorse operation Coolmore Stud has donated a breeding to one of their stallions. The auction for it ends next week. The opening bid was Ć¢āĀ¬35,000!!! :eek:
Iām going to donate based upon what I read about him in the Bloodhorse article.
He is going to go thru hell. My friend JJ Biello just died 32 years after being shot in the neck. He was a great person and a great Atlanta cop who had 2 young boys at the time of the shooting. I was in icu with Joey and his wife when they discussed whether or not to have the surgery to live. I visited him at Shepherd Spinal Center when Joey was learning to live in a wheelchair. I could not have done what Joey and his wife Barbara did for 32 years. His injury was at c4 or higher and he had only minimal movement in one hand.
Please donate. Based upon the Bloodhorse article he is a great guy. And no amount of money can make up for his injury. But it can help him and his family survive.
Paralysis is already such a difficult diagnosis, especially as the result of traumatic injury. The financial complexities only compound the already devastating reality. I have a relation who was a victim of an accident that resulted in the complete severing of the spinal cord more than a decade ago. They were āluckyā in the sense that their family had excellent insurance and that their spouse is in a very, very lucrative job position that could help defray the costs. It has been a horribly long, painful, agonizing, and expensive journey in the years since.
They are very active in the Reeve foundation (and have gotten all of our family involved, as their mission statement is something we are obviously quite passionate about) but when they are available to ask, I will see if they have any other groups they would recommend specifically for supporting families of someone with paralysis that may be less financially capable of absorbing the costs affiliated with such conditions. Thank you for this thought.
It is heartening to see the equestrian community rally around Kevin, and I hope that the support continues to be ongoing, as it has thus far. It is a long road. I continue to hope for positive updates.
Hereās what Dianna posted on her FB page a few hours ago
Yesterday Kevin made it into a wheel chair. He was extremely happy to get out of that bed. The doctors told me he did remarkably well. They seemed very impressed that he stayed in it for hours. I donāt know what the bar is but he seemed to exceed it.
His fighting spirit is still there and obviously, heās making progress. Letās hope that continues!
Thanks for posting that, I hope the fact that nothing was broken, severed or torn will eventually work in his favor towards a positive outcome. Its pretty amazing how the equestrian community has rallied around him. .
The Babington benefit silent auction is also in full swing at the Aiken Fall Festival Horse Show. There are selections from sandals to stallion services!
Here is the video from the sport horse sale at the Gold Cup on Friday night where they auctioned off the palomino mare to benefit Kevin Babington. The relevant part for that horse starts around the 36 minute mark, when McLain Ward starts it off by saying a few words. Spoiler alert. You may need to have some Kleenex handy.
