Tara’s immediate family & friends that are at her side will continue to learn more about her injuries in the upcoming weeks and will continue to keep everyone posted. Since coming out of surgery, Tara, drugged and very happy, has kept in good spirit and has promised not to let this beat her. Tara's room is so full of gifts and flowers that there is barely enough room for the nurses and doctors. At this time, they ask you save your money for the "Road To Recovery Fund." They are currently setting up a website that will allow for you to send your contributions directly to Tara to cover all medical expenses. Although she is covered under insurance, there will be additional expenses. They are looking into the top rehab facilities to get Tara up and walking again. All donations will go directly toward her rehab such as personal care, various equipment, housing modifications, etc. They were told that their #1 choice of rehab facilities may run up to $2000+ per day!
For all you Southern CA friends, Missy will be organizing an event to raise funds that will cover non-medical expenses such as travel and day to day items for Team Llanes. There will also be opportunities to take photos and write messages to Tara that will be sent over all together. More details to come so stay posted!
Her family & friends ask that you have as much faith as Tara does throughout this difficult period. Please feel free leave a message on Tara’s MySpace page www.myspace.com/mtbtara (you don’t need an account to view her site & photos, but you will need one if you want to post a message. Otherwise you can shoot her an email. If you don’t have it, feel free to drop me a line.
For those that have already left messages, Tara LOVES getting all your messages. Please keep sending them. Her eyes light up when she hears a success story similar to hers so if you have any, please let her know. Her spirits are still so high and her determination is remarkable.
Please keep Tara in your thoughts & prayers.
J. Dylan Dean
From Tara's myspace:
September 4, 2007 11:45 pm
Your support continues to blow us away. It is absolutely unbelievable. Again, there is not enough thank yous that can do it justice.
Tara's room is so full of gifts and flowers that there is barely enough room for the nurses and doctors. At this time, we ask you save your money for the "Road To Recovery Fund." We are currently setting up a webite that will allow for you to send your contributions directly to Tara to cover all medical expenses. Although she is covered under insurance, there will be additional expenses. As mentioned previously, we are looking into the top rehab facilities to get Tara up and walking again. All donations will go directly toward her rehab such as personal care, various equipment, housind modifications, etc. We are told that our #1 choice of rehab facilities may run up to $2000+ per day.
For all you Southern CA friends, Missy will be organizing an event to raise funds that will cover non-medical expenses such as travel and day to day items for Team Llanes. There will also be opportunities to take photos and write messages to Tara that will be sent over all together. More details to come so stay posted!
September 4, 2007 11:45 am
Thank you so much for all the notes, messages and flowers.
Tara was able to see the Physical Therapist today, which as you know, she is very excited to get started. Although it was a short evaluation because she is still healing, the doctors will be able to fit her for what they call a turtle shell (this will help give her strength while her back is still healing). We can hopefully get her out of bed and let her see the Denver sunshine soon.
If you are planning on sending Tara anything, we ask you to consider some alternatives as well...We think Tara would like some iTune gift cards (she will be rehabbing soon and will need the workout music for her iPod) and also some Target gift cards (for misc. items such as lotion, sheets, lip balm, etc.).
We are also working on setting up a fund for Tara...as you can imagine, the costs are going to increase, especially since we are looking into the top rehab places (nothing but the best for Tara!!!). We will continue to keep you posted on our progress.
More updates to come...continue to keep Tara and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for EVERYTHING so far...you have all been so great.
September 3, 2007 4:40 pm pm
Tara is in her new room! She should be in this room for the remainder of her stay at Denver Health (length of stay unknown at this time). Please send anything you want to the following:
Denver Health Medical Center
777 Bannock Street, Room B 316
Denver Colorado, 80204
September 3, 2007 10:30 am
Polly and Barb have been back at the hospital with Tara since early this morning. They forced us out of the room so everyone could get some sleep, including Tara.
She has moved out of the ICU but currently is in a temporary room, she should be moved again later today which is where she will stay for a few days. We will continue to keep you posted on this information so you can send her anything you want.
She LOVES getting all your messages. Please keep sending them. Her eyes light up when she hears a success story similar to hers so if you have any, please let her know. Her spirits are still so high and her determination is remarkable. She already asked every doctor when she can begin rehab.
We will continue to post the latest information here. We will also make her profile private so your friends and family can check out her page. Thanks again to everyone...we keep telling her how many people love her and are praying for her.
September 2, 2007 4:00 pm
As you may or may not know, Tara crashed in the Jeep King of the Mountain race on Saturday, September 1 in Veil, Colorado. She was airlifted to Denver Health Hospital, where she underwent 7 hours of surgery to correct massive trauma in her lower back. She also has a C-7 fracture which was deemed stable prior going into surgery.
Tara once again made it through another surgery and is now breathing on her own and able to communicate with friends and family. Unfortunately at this time she has no feeling below her waist, a symptom she suffered as a result of her crash.
We will continue to learn more about her injuries in the upcoming weeks and will continue to keep you posted. Since coming out of surgery, Tara, drugged and very happy, has kept in good spirit and has promised not to let this beat her.
We ask that you have as much faith as Tara does throughout this difficult period. Please leave a message on this page and we will make sure she receives each and every one of them. In the meantime, we are hoping Tara will be able to come back home in 1 to 2 weeks. If you would like to send anything, she is at:
Denver Health Medical Center 777
Bannock Street, Room A224 Denver Colorado, 80204
I can honestly say I've got a pretty good life, a wonderful partner, a loving family and amazing friends. I've traveled the world and have been to places that are absolutely unreal. Brazil, New Zealand, South Africa, Austria, Italy, Japan. I am a professional cyclist and have been for most of my life. Mountain biking to be exact. I started racing when I was 11 yrs. old and I think I love racing even more now than I did when I started! Throughout my career I have made some amazing friends all over and feel blessed to have met them. Without them I wouldn't have got up to nearly as much mischief! I have done so much, but feel like I have so much left to accomplish.
Get well Tara
Stay updated by going here:
www.tarallanesracing.com
www.myspace.com/mtbtara
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.