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Kim’s Story  Kim Patek is the daughter of Freddy and Jerri
Patek and younger sister to Heather. Her and her family’s life
drastically changed the night of July 21, 1992. Although she
survived the car accident which happened south of St. Joseph
Missouri, she was paralyzed from the neck down, a quadriplegic, and
was on life support until her death in 1995. She was only 23. No one could have anticipated the life changing events for her or her family. What happened next only worsened their nightmare. The scary thing is that this could happen to any of us. A few days after the accident, Freddy contacted his insurance company only to find out that his coverage for Kim had ended when she turned 20 because she was not a full time student. She had turned 20 years old just two months earlier. “The insurance company is under no obligation to tell the insured about this and that we could have taken out what they call a Cobra policy to cover the kids,” said Patek. “It was my fault. I know I should have read the policy more carefully. I know I’m not much different than a lot of people, but that doesn’t excuse it.” Kim had just gotten a new job but she was not yet covered under her new employer’s insurance either. After the accident, Kim remained in intensive care. The bills from her stay and treatment in various hospitals the next nine months were well over a million dollars. “Kim’s accident put our family into a tail spin that will never end” says her mother, Jerri. With no insurance to cover the costs of Kim’s hospitalization or care, the Pateks liquidated just about everything they had to include trying to sell their house, but it still wasn’t enough. Due to various fund raisers supported by the generosity of the Kansas City people, from high school basketball games to events like charity basketball and baseball games played by celebrities from the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs Teams and donations from the Baseball Assistance Team – B.A.T., an organization for needy former players, much of Kim’s professional care and treatment was paid for. This is something that still brings tears to the eyes of her family. “What I think back to most of all is how this community comes together and all the beautiful people there are in this town,” Patek said. After almost six months in three different hospitals and having fought and won three rounds of pneumonia, Kim came home. The Pateks began caring for her themselves, around the clock. Who is Kim Patek? She was a lovely and lively 20 year old who lived in the Greater Kansas City area and had bunches of friends and loving family. She became a quadriplegic as a result of a car accident and fought for her life until the day she passed from this earth where she is now able to walk (and fly if she wants) in a place where there are no more tears or pain. She left behind her “All-Stars” who continue to work to make the day a little bit brighter for other spinal cord injury individuals. |
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