Advocacy Library
One Families Story: A Reason for Advocacy
Last Updated:
A newspaper clipping on the 1982 closing of "Smokey Joe's," a legendary Maxwell Street men's clothing store founded by Tracey Bublick's grandfather, Joseph, hangs on the living room wall of her Inverrary townhouse. "I always wanted to work there. My dad took me down there as a little girl," Bublick said. But instead, Tracey Bublick, 41, finds herself pounding the pavement up and down Milwaukee Avenue in a different sort of sales effort: a non-stop fundraising campaign to pay for the tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses for her daughter, Heather, a former honors student and teacher of disabled children, who is now receiving treatment for a traumatic brain injury.
Car Accident
Heather, 20, suffered permanent brain damage in the spring of 2003 when she was hit by a car while she was walking across Harrison Street near the campus of the University of Illinois in Chicago and dragged 25 feet. The driver of the car was not charged in the accident.
Heather's rehabilitation has been tough. She had numerous plastic surgeries, repair to one side of her face, three brain hemorrhages and an arm marred by holes. But even tougher is the more invisible injury to her brain's frontal lobe. That injury has caused short term memory loss, depression, and severe headaches. It got to the point where Heather did not want to get out of bed, Tracey said.
Desperate, Tracey put Heather in a medical treatment facility in Texas in September. But that facility specialized in treating mood disorders, not traumatic brain injuries. On the advice of local psychologist Jeannette Spires, Tracey moved Heather to the SLS health treatment facility in Brewster, New York, which specializes in traumatic brain injury at a cost of $750 a day.
No Coverage
But paying for Heather's medical care has proved problematic. The state of Illinois told Tracey her daughter would only be covered if she were pregnant. And although Heather was a student during the accident, her insurance was canceled now that she is no longer enrolled at the University of Illinois. Tracey is fighting the insurance companies over the costly payment for her initial medical treatment. Tracey said the federal government has been dragging its feet in even considering a payment of social security disability. Tracey has enlisted the help of Karen Garber from the office of U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-10th, to speed up the process.
"We are trying to cut through the red tape and get her a faster hearing. But there are thousands and thousands of cases," said Garber, a district representative in the congressman's office.
Heather's father committed suicide three weeks before her accident. The expenses from the estate went only to pay for the funeral. And because she is 20, Heather is too old to qualify for survivor's benefits, Garber said.
Tracey ended up relying on her elderly parents, Max and Esther, to help pay for $200,000 in medical expenses. Tracey said the devotion of her parents, along with the kindness of donors, is what has given her strength during the long ordeal.
"My parents are my best friends. They have so unselfishly given up everything. They cashed in all their life insurance. They had to move to a smaller place. They have done everything for her," Tracey said. And once after putting a fundraising can in a convenience store on Milwaukee Avenue, Tracey said she was startled by a man knocking on her car window with an $18 donation. "He said he would pray for her," Tracey recalled.
Full-time Fundraiser
Tracey, a former daycare provider with an associate's degree in early childhood education, said she could not possibly earn enough at a job to pay for her daughter's medical expenses. Any health benefits she would earn would not cover Heather, who at age 20 is no longer considered a dependent. "This is my full time job, putting together fundraisers," said Tracey, who also has two younger sons with special needs.
During an interview in her modest but cheerfully decorated townhome, Tracey showed a photograph of her beautiful blonde-haired daughter, standing in front of the Smokey Joe's clipping. Then Tracey brought out a bound volume of "Who's Who among American high school students," listing Heather and all her accomplishments: editor of newspaper, softball, honor roll, president of Temple Youth Group.
Heather, a 2002 graduate of the Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago and a 1998 graduate of Solomon Schechter Day School in Northbrook, also knew sign language and taught Sunday School to children with disabilities in the Keshet school in Northbrook.
On her kitchen table, Tracey laid out the various fliers and posters she has created. Her latest effort, a neighborhood fundraiser and raffle held Oct. 3, raised $5,000 with Rosati's providing the pizza. Tracey and her elder son, Jimmy, who attended Stevenson High School before transferring to Arlen Therapeutic Day School, will also be walking in this Sunday's Stevenson Homecoming 5K Spirit Walk, which is a fundraiser for the Disability Outreach Foundation, as a way to raise awareness.
Tracey said she had raised enough money for her Oct. 14 payment for Heather and is now working on raising the funds for the November payment. Altogether, she said she will need $60,000. Tracey offered a tiny glimmer of hope on Heather's progress. "She took a shower this week by herself for the first time." But Heather has a precarious sense of balance, and was told she could not participate in some of the activities at the facility, Tracey said. "She sees it as a failure," Tracey said.
Prognosis
When Heather comes home in six to nine months, plans are for her to return slowly to school. But she will still need years of physical therapy, Tracey said. "It may take her 10 years to finish college. She knows she can't be a doctor." Tracey is also using her daughter's experience as a way to publicize the "Silver Ribbon" campaign, to raise awareness of illnesses affecting the brain. "She used to say, 'I wish I lost an arm or a leg.' There is a real stigma with brain disorders," Tracey said. But even after Heather gets back on her feet, Tracey plans to maintain the foundation.
A two-day sale to benefit Heather is coming up next week on Oct. 18 and 19 at Max & Ermas, 1447 N. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills. A total of 20 percent of the proceeds from lunch and dinner sales during those two days from coupon holders will go to the Heather Bublick Rehabilitation Foundation. Coupons for the sale are available by contacting Tracey at (847) 687-2519.
Donations to the Heather Bublick Rehabilitation Foundation can also be made to Cole Taylor Bank, Attention Linda Fijalkowski, 350 East Dundee Road, Wheeling, Illinois 60090. The foundation's Web site is www.Fighting4Heather.org.
Ruth Solomon is a staff writer with the Deerfield Review. She can be reached at solomon@pioneerlocal.com
Reprinted courtesy of the Deerfield Review. Originally titled, Brain Injury Costs Devastating. Oct. 12, 2004.