Art Show At The Southampton Cultural Center August 2019

 Hey! Matt here! So this summer was a tumultuous time for me. Coming home was bittersweet in many ways. Ive gotten a lot accomplished in the past few months. There were tremendous hurtles to overcome. I’m certainly not the Cold and hot resistant-Fish box throwing-all weather-all season-ice shoveling-tough as nails Fisherman that I used to be (how’s that for a mouthful of a sentence) but I am mentally resilient and I’m still getting stronger! Slowly very slowly. So let’s get started. I bought a van! This has made a huge difference! Being able to get out and around is Way more fun than sitting at home. Now I can drive around aimlessly with friends like I used to haha. Those of you Hampton Bays-ers May be able to relate. On the downside the van was extremely expensive. Handicap retrofitted vans Are generally double the price of the van itself. If not more. I got a fairly new one with very low miles so I don’t have to worry about breaking down in the middle of February. It’s made getting to doctors appointments a lot easier. Before this we did it through my health insurance and they would send a old rickety stinky van with bad suspension to pick me up. I would just Bob around in the back like the 1 mile Buoy in a swell. Lisa Finn Wrote a beautiful article about my harrowing experience the day I broke my neck you can check it out here: https://patch.com/new-york/westhampton-hamptonbays/man-paralyzed-while-diving-has-no-health-aide-crisis Not to get to personal but...I am unable to catheterize myself, so I have a indwelling catheter in. The downside to this is that they are frequent to infections. This whole summer has been mired in UTI flareups. If you’re unfamiliar with what this is it’s like having the flu. I kept getting huge fevers. Cold and hot, Any slight movement of air felt extremely uncomfortable. Shivers so bad that my arms and neck would lock up. And ultimately I ended up in a hospital on IV antibiotics. While I was in the hospital my mother and sole caregiver tore her biceps and was unable to care for me when I got home. The combination of the UTI and Not having adequate care really broke me. The health insurance was unable to locate A health aid because I live too far east on Long Island. There is a shortage of health aid’s on Long Island probably due to the fact that they get paid $13-$15 an hour. Feeling Down and out a friend, Bridget Leroy stepped up to the plate. She started a Facebook fundraiser to raise money to hire a health aid. It was a huge success raising a little over $27,000. While this sounds amazing I need 24 hour care and it isn’t enough to cover the year. It certainly does buy a cushion of time. I currently have a health aid who is wonderful and has made things so much easier for my mom and I. It was bubbling up into a crisis mentally and physically. Having to worry about being taken care of is a terrible thing. It’s been my biggest mental hurdle this far. I still need your help. On the physical therapy front I’ve come up short. I’m scheduled to go to a spinal cord injury rehab in East Meadow but it is a huge trek For an hour of physical therapy twice a week. Which is what my health insurance covers. Ideally I would like to go to an inpatient facility or even a gym that specializes in neurological reengineering like Barwis. And of course these cost money. Sean Grismer has had huge success at Barwis and highly recommended it. There is one in Florida I would have to live close and commute. For the best results in physical return I should be getting physical therapy as much as possible within the first year. Besides all of that stuff my mom has had to quit her job. despite the help of my health aid She is still very much needed at the house and we have a lot of bills, and the house needs to be fixed up even more. But I must admit the bathroom is amazing! Made a huge difference. Without that bathroom coming home would not have been possible so thank you guys for your donations! All right all right enough with the bad stuff, I’m very excited to keep pursuing my interest in photography. I had an amazingly successful art opening at the Southamtpon Cultural Center and I Was gifted a drone. I also have a printer now so I can make my own prints! This drone will make up for my lack of mobility I’m super excited to give it a try. I think with a little bit of creativity and adaptation I’ll be able to use the controller. Anyway, thanks guys! I thought you should hear it from the horses mouth (that’s a saying right?) I apologize for any typos. talk to text has a wonderful way of mixing things up haha! No hand movement remember?

Jonathan Raynor·12 mo

Matt's exhibition at the Southampton Cultural Center last night went exceedingly well! Thank you everyone who came down to support Matt and his art. He will be at the showing his pieces this Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 12PM to 4PM. Address: 25 Pond Ln, Southampton, NY 11968

Jonathan Raynor·12 mo

Please join us this evening with Matthew on August 16th from 6 pm to 9 pm at the Southampton Cultural Center. All artwork will be available for purchase. You'll also be able to meet the Artist himself and discuss his awe-inspiring images. This exclusive series of Matt's photography from his "Life at Sea" will be on view from August 16th through August 19th.