Are you ready to ROCK!

Monday May 18th, 2009 the House of Blues in Anaheim held a benefit show for Jay. The bands included were Social Distortion, The Vandals, The Black Tibetans, and The Japanese Motors. The show was an amazing success. Many of Jay's friends and co-workers came out along with his family and made it a beautiful night to remember. Thanks to the amazing Jay-Team who made it all happen and did an amazing job behind the scenes. A huge thanks goes out to the House of Blues,Ticket Master and all of the people that donated goods for the benefit. And last but not least, a huge sincere thank you goes out to Shane Trulin, without him this amazing event couldn't have been possible. Thank you to Natalie Moser for taking these great photos and be sure to check out her work here:
www.nataliemoserblog.com
www.nataliemoserphotography.com

Dano catches 80 waves!!!

On Tuesday May 12th, 2009, Dano held a surf-a-thon at Blackies. It started at 9am to 11am. At the final horn, Dano caught his 80th wave. With Jay's brother James and fellow surfer Steve keeping track of the wave count, 3 year old Stuart Jeremias allowed them to have a few chocolate cookies on the house to hold them over till lunch time. An amazing contribution from Rich Knight who not only sold hats from his work and donated the money, he also donated $10 a wave! A total of $800. Everyone was baffled by the generosity and the Thomas family can't say thank you enough to him and all those who donated and participated in getting the signatures they needed to make this a very successful surf-a-thon. Special thanks to Laylan Connelly at the Orange County Register and also to The Daily Pilot who did amazing stories on the event and did a great job with the information provided in each article. And a special thank you goes out to Dan Forte, the surf-a-thon would not have been as successful with out his motivation, determination and sheer perseverance to make this event a tremendous success. Here are a few photos from the event taken by Tom Cozad at newportsurfshots.com

Party Time!

On May 1, 2009 there was a get-together/ party extravaganza held at Jay's new headquarters. There was a great turnout and plenty of food and drinks. Most of Jay's closest friends showed up and everyone got to catch up with one another and shoot the breeze. Jay was super excited to see everyone together and everyone had a blast. We can't wait until the next party May 18th, 2009 House of Blues in Anaheim With Social Distortion!

May 3, 2009 TWSA Bolsa Chica

They Will Surf Again (TWSA) a sister organization to Life Rolls On held an event on sunday May 3, 2009 at Bolsa Chica. The purpose of this event is to get individuals with spinal cord injuries active again. Most of the athletes who participated have surfed before and for a few, it was their first time. There were 35 athletes and 150 volunteers. They biggest turnout for TWSA ever! 

Jays brother James volunteered for this event and said it was an amazing experience. From 9am to 2:30pm James, amongst 149 other volunteers and his team, (the blue team) took about 6 athletes surfing that day. Each athlete had a half an hour surf session and almost all of them caught at least 3 waves. With about four teams total and 15 volunteers per team, there were plenty of people in the water. 

There was free food and drinks for everyone, and lots of smiles being had. It was an amazing turnout.

Jay is out of Long Beach Memorial!

On Thursday April 23, 2009 Jay was released from Long Beach Memorial Hospital and is now residing with his father in Brea. Jay's room has been outfitted with the necessary equipment needed for day to day activity, however due to countless complications with the supplier and the apparent necessity to be a rocket scientist to be a delivery driver, Jay's equipment has been uniquely modified by his father and his brother James. With the help of the families great friends the Greenlee's, and newcomer Preston, Jay is eating home made meals with actual flavor, constancy and texture, unlike the soft serve peas and carrots that he was receiving at Long Beach.  

Outpatient therapy is scheduled for next week at Hoag Hospital. Request to commence outpatient therapy at St. Jude Rehabilitation Center, across the street from Jay's residence, has been denied 3 times by his insurance company. Appeals to the insurance company are in the works as we speak but therapy must continue. Although Hoag Hospital isn't Jay's and the families first choice for outpatient therapy Jay, for now, will be closer to the beach where we all know his heart is. 

The good news is however, Jay's benefit show at the House of Blues on May 18th is SOLD OUT!!! It's going to be an amazing show and we all can't wait. Hang in there Jay!

Bob Yant Meets with Jay

On Easter Sunday, Bob Yant and his wife Anne came to visit Jay and his family and Long Beach Memorial Hospital. the visit went well. Bob and his wife spent over two hours with the family discussing a lot about the current developments in SCI research, Jays day to day progress and his upcoming out patient therapy. Jay is making steady progress in PT and gets shaky and cold from time to time, but his willingness to give anything a try, shows that his strong will runs deep. Everyday seems to bring a new challenge, but Jay is not fazed by it. He confronts each obstacle with strength and determination. Jay can't wait to get out of LBM which is scheduled for April 23 and neither can we.

Our meeting with Bob Yant

James, Bob and Britta

On Saturday March 4th 2009 James and Janie from the Spaghetti Bender had a meeting with Bob Yant and Britta at Brittas Cafe in Irvine. This guy is incredible. He has raised millions of dollars for non-profit organizations dealing with spinal cord injuries and spinal cord research. He has a wealth of knowledge and its quite overwhelming. He has so many recourses from housing facilities to neurosurgions specialist who are working on a cure for SCI. He had his accident in 1981 diving in Newport Beach and now is a quadripalegic. He has a daughter and a wonderful wife and he is truely an inspiration. He definatley wants to meet Jays parents and Jay as well when he is ready. Check out more information about him and about Brittas Cafe in the links below.

http://www.fscip.org/Yant.htm

http://www.spaghettibender.com/

http://www.brittascafe.com/