GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (June 17, 2014)- A family from Lake Odessa is dealing with pain and struggle after a motorcycle accident involving a 12-year-old boy.
Gage Beland, 12, crashed into a rider who had fallen in front of him on the motorcycle track in March.
The middle schooler was racing his motorcycle near Daytona Beach when it happened. He suffered brain trauma, a fractured skull, a broken pelvis, a punctured lung and had to be resuscitated on the track.
“It’s something that he’s been doing for years, he had every possible safety measure covered,” Gage’s aunt Chere Wiseman said.
After a month in intensive care he was transported to Mary Free Bed, where he’s been working on cognitive and physical rehabilitation.
Wiseman says Gage is now nodding and blinking to signal yes and no.
“He’s really at a point where he’s starting to communicate and interact with his environment,” she said.
Gage’s doctor A.J. Rush says he needs more time at Mary Free Bed, but the insurance company is ready to send him home to receive outpatient therapy.
Dr. Rush says their ‘Length of stay’ was denied and so was the appeal due to Gage’s progression. Now, the insurance company is getting a second opinion from another doctor and allowing Gage to stay at Mary Free Bed while they make their decision.
Dr. Rush says sending Gage home early would jeopardize his progress. He says pediatric patients in these situations are forced into rehab much more quickly than adults.
He says if Gage were 10 years older, he would be allowed to stay at Mary Free Bed.
Gage’s family just wants what’s best for him.
“He`s an amazing kid, he is such a hard-working, positive, caring kid,” Wiseman said.
Dr. Rush says this isn’t a common problem with this insurance company, but he thinks they’re making a mistake in this situation.
