After Ocean City Accident, Support For Injured Athlete Continues

It's been a month since Benjamin Paepcke broke his neck at the beach in Ocean City. On the Fourth of July, he dove into shallow water while body surfing and suffered a serious spinal cord injury.

Since then, he's been hospitalized. First, he was receiving care in Maryland, and at the end of July, he flew to Colorado, where he is undergoing rehabilitation.

"He is feeling pins and needles and feels as if his body, at times, is wrapped tightly in a rope," his mother, Lillian Paepcke, posted to the GoFundMe page set up to help with medical bills. "Because of his injury, we know there is nerve damage, but just not how much."

Lifeguards on the Ocean City Beach Patrol came to the rescue immediately when they saw that the 19-year-old became injured. They crossed his arms behind his head to brace his neck and stabilize him so that he could be taken to the hospital.

From a local hospital, he was transferred to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he underwent surgeries and testing. Doctors determined he broke his neck and injured the C5 vertebra — which is connected to respiratory muscles, among other functions — in his spinal cord.

Now he's at Craig Hospital in Colorado, which specializes exclusively in spinal cord and brain injuries. He flew there from Martin State Airport on Tuesday, July 30.

On Sunday, Aug. 4, his mother reported Paepcke talked to his former care staff from shock trauma in Baltimore on FaceTime. She called them "his Angels in Pink."

She also gave updates on his therapy. "Ben was taught to steer and drive his wheelchair. He drove it like he was driving my Jeep," she wrote Saturday, Aug. 3. While he has lost 25 pounds since the accident, she said he is still a "big boy" who needs his wheelchair specially fitted for him.

Benjamin Paepcke is 6 feet tall and 195 pounds, according to his CCBC Essex lacrosse profile. He was a lacrosse player at Calvert Hall College in Towson, where he graduated in 2018.

While at the hospital in Baltimore, he had special guest visitors like Johns Hopkins lacrosse coach Dave Pietramala, Foxtrot police officers, church personnel and his best friends from Calvert Hall. Others who had the same C5 spinal injury have also shared their stories with him.

At times since being hospitalized, he has suffered from pneumonia, a 105-degree fever and an infection from ocean bacteria, according to the GoFundMe updates from his family.

July 31 was the first time he had been dressed in 27 days, his mother reported.

His mother has her own back pain too, she wrote.

"I’m a home mom and fight a lower back injury as well. Nothing can compare to Ben's but I’ve lived with pain and limitations since 1997," Lillian Paepcke wrote. "Sometimes I didn’t have the motivation to do anything. Watching our Benjamin these 19 days has made me see life in a whole new spectrum of positivity, and possibilities. It’s made me realize just how much love and support we have. Not just during the bad times, but if open to it all the time," she wrote.

She continued: "Let’s keep spreading the word for spinal cord injury awareness and motivate Ben to be as strong as he possibly can. As I’ve told him from day one...'can’t isn’t an option this time.'"

Supporters of the Calvert Hall grad have created t-shirts and wristbands that say "Prayers for Pap" in his honor.

Earth, Wood & Fire in Baltimore hosted a "Pies for Pap" fundraiser July 25, donating 50 percent of proceeds from meals purchased in an eight-hour period that day to his care.

The Ocean City Beach Patrol included a plug for the bracelets in its newsletter on Monday, Aug. 5.

"Ben suffered a C5 spinal injury and his family is hoping that these wristbands will not only provide financial support but also spiritual support in the long recovery process," the beach patrol newsletter said. "Let's show how much the OCBP cares by purchasing one today."

How To Support Benjamin Paepcke

• Donate on GoFundMe. "We are asking for your assistance to help the family with impending medical and unforeseen expenses for Ben's care," the GoFundMe page states. Nearly $77,000 has been raised as of Monday, Aug. 5, about a month since the page started.
• Buy a "Prayers for Pap" bracelet.
• Send letters to Benjamin Paepcke, Craig Hospital, 3425 South Clarkson Street, Englewood, CO 80113.

"Thank you, God and Benjamin for helping me share in this recovery and healing," his mother posted on the GoFundMe page. "There is purpose for each of us, and we all have a gift to share no matter how small. Through faith, anything is possible. It’s 7:39 am and Ben has now been breathing on his own for over 27 hours. A new day begins..."

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