Hey all
My name is Emily Trepanier. As many of you know I had an accident May 25 2025. I was coming home with my service dog Darling and ended up tripping and falling on an uneven sidewalk. When I fell I ended up falling hard forwards on my hands and knees. I cut open my right hand and right knee but thankfully both of those injuries are healing very nicely.
Unfortunately because of how hard I fell, and not being able to see very well, I also got a mild concussion and a bit of whip lash. As a result I have been unable to work since May 26 2025 and won’t be returning to work till September 2025. I was hoping it was only going to take a few weeks and I’d be back to my normal self as I am a very active athlete but unfortunately recovery has been much slower then expected. This has been the most frustrating part of recovery for me as I’m not really one who likes to sit around and rest. I’d much rather be out and about being active so you can imagine how much this has affected me.
Now that I have passed the initial acute stage of my concussion recovery, I have just started therapies designed to help me continue to recover and rehab from my concussion and whip lash this past week. It is going to be a lot of hard work but I am determined to come out stronger on the other side. I am incredibly thankful for all of the help and support that I have received from my family and friends thus far.
I will be getting massages at least 1 a week but in the beginning it will likely be twice a week, participating in vestibular physio therapy 2 a week, swimming therapy 1 or 2 a week, a walking program and gentle yoga and meditation program as part of my therapy program to help me recover from this concussion. Along with all of the therapy I am doing I have also started taking specific supplements to help support and help my body to heal as best as it possible can as I work through my concussion rehab program.
I am legally blind and have a registered active service dog named Darling. As a result of my accident her work has been significantly decreased until I recover a bit more and will be able to work her more. This has affected her as she really does love to work but thankfully she is adjusting better then I thought she would be. I have also been super lucky to have a few close friends that I trust come and take Darling out on nice long walks. I am also researching ways of enrichment that I can use to help her at home while her work is limited.
I have been unable to work since May 26 2025 so I have been placed on medical leave at work. In the beginning of my medical leave I was still able to get my regular pay but this quickly ran out once my sick bank ran out so I was switched to medical leave in which I’m only receiving about 55 percent of my regular income. I do have extended health benefits through work which is thankfully continuing but some of the above therapies are not fully covered/not covered through my extended health benefits so I will need to pay out of pocket for these therapies. Also because I need to get lots of massage and physio especially in the beginning until things start to stabilize a bit more I’m afraid I’m going to run out of benefits to help fully cover all of this.Summer months are usually always a bit tighter but this summer specially is going to be tight so I’m thankful for any support I receive.
I am also not able to take regular public transit right now so I’m having to either pay out of pockets for Uber rides or rely on friends to drive me to and from appointments. I am working on getting me set up with temporary specialized transit service but this also takes a bit of time to be approved for but the paper work has started and hopefully it is not going to take to long to set up.
Mamy people have been asking how they can help me as I work through my recovery and after chatting with a few friends I have decided to create this fundraiser as a way for people to help if they wish to/are able to help me. Even if you are unable to contribute financially I’d appreciate if you could share with anyone whom you think might be able to contribute.
Thank you everyone for your continued help and support. I promise to keep everyone up to date on my progress as I continue to work on recovering from my concussion.
Thank you!
Emily and Darling
