Family seeks help with costs of care for brain-injured Riverhead teen

Riverhead teen Justin Walker had been in North Carolina visiting his aunts for six weeks when he took a drive on May 28 to get gas. Nobody knows what happened on his way back, but a passing driver found the 18-year-old lying unconscious outside his wrecked vehicle.

Justin’s mother, lifelong Riverhead resident Jeanette Fink, said her son lost control of the car and drove into a ditch. Why he lost control is not known, but the vehicle rolled 400 feet and Justin was ejected. The violence of the crash caused 12 microhemorrhages in Justin’s brain and left him in a coma-like state. Three months after the crash he managed to wiggle his toes.

Fink said that somehow – “I don’t know how” – her insurance company agreed to cover the $150,000 cost of a medical jet, and Justin was brought back to New York. He was admitted to Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Smithtown on Sept. 13, where he is now conscious and can communicate, though he can’t speak or walk.

“It’s hard to watch him struggle,” said Fink, who has never lost hope that her son will recover despite a daunting prognosis from doctors. “People tell me I’m amazing – I’m not amazing. He’s amazing. He’s fighting this, and he’s fighting it with all he’s got.”

Fink has been in touch with other local parents with children who’ve suffered traumatic brain injuries, including Nancy Reyer, mother of Michael Hubbard.

“These kids fall into this place where there’s nothing for them,” Fink said, explaining that the teens are too old to be covered by pediatric services and too young to meet criteria for adult patient services. She said the parents support each other through the emotional and financial turmoil.

The Fink family is organizing a fundraiser to help deal with the costs of her son’s continuing care and treatment, including costs incurred to bring Justin home to Long Island. While the jet that brought him home was paid for, the ambulances to get him to and from the plane weren’t. For that, Fink was billed $75,000.

“I have no idea why it’s so high but that’s what it is,” said Fink, who has been out of work since May in order to care for her son.

The event will take place Nov. 22 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church on North Country Road in Wading River. It is scheduled for 6 to 10 p.m. and will feature live music, refreshments and raffles. Alcohol will not be served but can be brought.

Fink set up the Justin Walker Foundation for Hope, Inc. to raise money for her son’s recovery, which is slow but progressing each day, she said. She plans to continue fundraising in order to help others who find themselves in the same situation as her family.

Fink said Justin’s struggle weighs heavily on his younger siblings, Matthew, 8, and Miranda, 16.

“Miranda said, ‘I want nothing more than to hear his voice,'” said Fink.

Photos courtesy of Jeanette Fink

Correction: A previously published version of this story incorrectly stated Jeanette Fink’s daughter’s name.