Monday Morning Musings

Posted on August 23, 2021 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

 

The Ross Family

 

I wish to acknowledge that most of the information in this piece was provided by the Ross family.

Dan Ross is one of the good guys.

He has given so much to his community and it is now time for the community to return the favour.

If you wanted a good definition of entrepreneurship, a description of Dan’s life would do quite nicely. From a very young age, he showed off his talents. He has spent his life honing his craft as the owner of Ross Screenprint. However, Dan is not a one trick pony. He also learned at any early age that giving back was every bit as important as business acumen. He has supported many local causes over the years.

On a personal note, when I got into business at the age of 42, one of the first people I reached out to was Dan. His enthusiasm for new ideas and marketing strategies left me somewhat in awe.

In January of 2020, Dan had an accident while skiing that left him with a sore neck. Over time, symptoms gradually worsened to sickness and debilitating fatigue, and then eventually an inability to be upright at all without suffering symptoms including intense headaches, loss of speech, lack of motor control and full body spasms. He has essentially been bedridden for one year. He is unable to look left or right. Simply put, his accident has left him unable to support the weight of his head.

I know Dan a little bit and I suspect that he isn’t looking for pity. He is looking for a solution because that’s just in his DNA. He still runs his business here in Antigonish setting up a horizontal office to be able to continue to work. He uses an overhead mounted monitor and a clear plexiglass shelf for paperwork.

Daniel’s condition is very rare. There is a surgery called Craniocervical Fusion, which fuses the base of the skull to the spine enabling the head to be supported while upright. There are eight surgeons in the world who specialize in this procedure and one of them in New York has accepted Dan as a patient.

That’s the good news.

The procedure is risky and very expensive. The surgery alone will cost $300,000. Dan and his wife Shauna have been lobbying the N.S. healthcare system to help with the funding but to no avail. The Ross’s have to go it alone.

But they don’t. It is our turn as a community of friends to step up and help someone who has helped so many. A GoFund Me campaign has been set up to try and raise at least $125,000. https://www.gofundme.com/f/surgery-to-get-daniel-ross-upright-again?fbclid=IwAR2-UAWN4QFoTFXZixAyrnXZ3TwsRZcn2TSwSUK_U-51VhIa20Eow82TXCQ

For people in the Antigonish area, there is a fundraising account set up at the East Coast Credit Union (Bergengren), in the name of Blaise Ross. You can also send an e-transfer at helpdanielross@gmail.com.

We need Dan healthy and strong once more. You just know that when he has the surgery and recovers, that he will redouble his energy (if that is humanly possible!) to make Antigonish a better place to live.

So, let’s roll up our sleeves and “get ‘er done”.

Please, if you would, share this post widely. Thank you.

P.S. More than $70,00 has been raised so far. Let’s keep it going.