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MC rallies behind Isaac Coulapides

Photo courtesy of raustin77

On Friday night, Oct. 6, junior Isaac Coulapides was severely injured after his car lost

control and hit a divider on Sabre Springs Parkway. Coulapides is part of the MC varsity cheer team, and was on his way home from a  football game. After being rushed to the hospital, doctors determined Coulapides had suffered extreme injuries,  with a crushed T3 and T4 vertebrae, as well as fractures to the sternum, and due to these injuries, Coulapides is now paralyzed from the chest down. In response, students and staff at MC have rallied to provide support for the Coulapides family.

“It’s mostly a lot of emotional support right now because we don’t want to overwhelm the family,” senior Aliyah Gardea said. “[The Cheer Team] is making quilts for Isaac as well as helping fundraising. At this football game we are going to have buckets for donations for him and the game will be dedicated to Isaac.”

Students signing banner for Coulapides
Photo by Lindy Verhage

On Friday, Oct. 13, MC’s Associated Student Body (ASB) set up a banner for students to sign and write messages of support for Coulapides. Additionally, the cheer team is compiling similar handwritten notes to create a gift for Coulapides.

“The quilts for Isaac are a bunch of sentimental messages that we wrote for him,” Gardea said.  “They are paper so it’s not necessarily a quilt but they are all different colors.”

As well as thoughts and prayers, financial support is greatly needed, as in addition to hospital bills, the family’s home will have to be refitted to become wheelchair accessible.

“There are  two different websites. There is caringbridge which gives updates on how he’s doing medically and what’s going on day-to-day with him,” Principal Greg Magno said. “There is also a youcare website which is more about fundraising so we’ve been trying to push everyone if they feel so inclined to participate in that and that’s a place people can go so [the Coulapides family] is not so overwhelmed.”

According to caringbridge, Isaac has been moved from Scripps Hospital, where he was airlifted originally, to Kaiser Hospital, where he is no longer a trauma patient. Coulapides is expected to be moved to a patient rehab center within the next few days.

“We’ve been trying to help get the word out about needs he may have going forward and how people can keep in touch and help in the future,” Magno said.

In the wake of the incident, the community at MC has pulled together to show their love and support for Coulapides. Additionally, friends and members of the cheer team have received videos from Coulapides who seems high in spirits and recovering quickly. More information about Coulapides’s condition can be found here and donations can be made here.

Written by Lindy Verhage

Lindy is a Senior at MC and the Sun's Editor in Chief. She enjoys long-winded, antiquated idioms, big dogs that think they are small dogs, and traveling to local bookstores. She is an ambidextrous ice cream scooper and advocator of siestas.

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