Island Lake Village Trustee Will Ziegler remains hospitalized over a month after a serious ATV crash that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Ziegler was involved in an ATV crash on November 27, the day before Thanksgiving, while he was in North Carolina. He suffered a fractured skull, multiple broken bones and a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed at his waist, Karen Gibbons said on a GoFundMe page.
The GoFundMe has raised over $4,000 in less than a day and has a goal of $50,000 to assist with buying a wheelchair accessible van and converting Ziegler’s home to be wheelchair accessible.
“After spending almost a month in NC, where the accident occurred, he was recently transferred to the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago to begin rehabilitation. He will spend approximately 8 weeks in inpatient therapy before going back home to his girls. Outpatient therapy will continue for an additional 1-2 years,” Gibbons said.
“In order for Will (Billy) to be able to return home, Vicki needs to add ramps, change carpet to hardwood, rearrange rooms in the house to put a bedroom on the first floor and add a table to allow the family to eat together among many other potential changes,” Gibbons said.
The family will need a wheelchair accessible van to help Ziegler get to and from outpatient therapy and get around places.
The Daily Herald reported that Island Lake Trustee Chuck Cermak talked to Ziegler’s wife, who said that he cannot speak much but is “in good spirits.”
Ziegler has been a trustee for a year after being elected to a four-year term in April.