Fund for Fixing Frankie

To those who know him well, Frank Bunge has always been a tireless and exuberant force of nature! His seemingly boundless energy, his drive to create, his crazy sense of humor makes him a fixture in our community, and much beloved by friends and family.

As an Eagle Scout, Franks sense of community and service is highly developed- he’s a great guy who always has time to lend a hand to others. It might be fixing your car, helping you move, or solving a plumbing problem, he’s the guy his friends count on to solve problems. Frank is a talented jack-of-all-trades, and excels at pretty much all of them, but he has a special passion for bicycles.

At 13, Frank’s love of bicycles led him to apprentice under bicycle designer Shane Fedon, learning how to construct custom bikes from the ground up. His passion for design and cycling led him to work for RBR in State College for a number of years as head mechanic and, once leaving there, to continue designing and building bicycles for himself and others.

On May 1, 2014, Frank was riding a recumbent bicycle of his own design when he was struck by a car, sustaining multiple severe injuries. After losing 3 units of blood at the scene, he was airlifted to Altoona Regional Trauma Center for care.

Franks injuries were devastating: a broken left and right femur, 5 broken ribs, a punctured lung, shattered right clavicle and multiple fractures to his pelvis.

Within 12 hours of the accident, Frank had two surgical procedures. the first surgery was to his left leg- the surgeon put in a rod and 4 pins to to get that leg back together and also scraped gravel and debris out of his right knee. His second surgery was the right leg - a rod and 3 pins to fix the shattered femur.

The third surgery was pelvic reconstruction surgery- the most complicated surgery to date requiring a plate, screws and pins to put our Frank back together again. A fourth surgery is planned on his left leg to reset it and change the screws. He may still need a fifth surgery on his clavicle which has not set properly

After spending time in the ICU, then a regular hospital unit, Frank was transferred to a skilled nursing facility, where he is now, and will stay until at least July. Then he will be moved to a rehabilitation facility for many months of therapy and rest. Frank is expected to be able to walk again, but the long-haul recovery process will be slow...and costly.

Insurance will cover some initial costs (with dreaded co-pays of course), but will only cover 30 days of his stay in the nursing facility, and is only covering 60% of that cost during that time. The rest will be his financial responsibility, including all the rehab time he will need. Right now, the estimated out of pocket cost for his medical care is well over $100,000.

So he needs your help; this is one problem that Frank can’t fix on his own.

Please consider donating to the Fund to Fix Frankie; we are all anxious to see him back on his feet without being utterly crippled by the medical costs involved to get there. You don’t have to be a big spender to help- even a $10 donation will help get us to our goal.

Also, please share this campaign on your favorite social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Let your friends know you donated and ask them to donate too! If you can help get the word out to as many people as possible, we have a much better chance of making, or even exceeding our goal.

Thank you!