DUNWOODY, Ga. — A UGA student’s dreams are on hold. He was injured in a ski accident in Colorado.
His family is trying to get him back home.
Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes said before Aydin Slipsager can get into The Shepherd Center for his spinal injuries, his family has to gather up the money to pay for a medical flight home. It could cost them up to $150,000.
“We’re not people that ask others for help. It’s actually quite difficult to accept,” said Tami Slipsager.
His family went from wrapping presents for their loved ones and planning a holiday together to scrambling to get the UGA freshman out of his hospital bed in Colorado and back home to Dunwoody.
This tragedy happened during a skiing trip two weeks ago near the University of Colorado.
“I texted my son and I said, I really like you to take some private lessons. I don’t know that you’re doing the best, and I really don’t want you to get hurt. And he said, ‘I’m doing OK.’ Well, about two hours later, I got a phone call that he was at the urgent care, that they were putting in a port for breathing and he was bleeding severely,” Tami Slipsager said.
Aydin Slipsager has made a lot of progress but is still unable to walk.
His friends started a GoFundMe page to help pay for a medflight back to Atlanta that could cost up to $150,000.
Aydin’s mom told me he is heartbroken knowing he can’t finish his freshman year right now, but he and his family are hoping for a full recovery.
“He had texted me two days before the accident. He said mom I ended up with a 3.95 GPA, my lowest grade was an A minus one. He said I already applied to honors college, and he wants to major and his major in business and finance. And he’s just that kid that you don’t have to tell him when to do something and how to do it, he just does it.”
And that’s part of why his family is working so hard to get him back home, so he can continue his education and healing journey at the Shepherd Center.
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