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Friday, April 4, 2008

Fundraiser for Darren Chiacchia Raises over $200,000

Local and Equestrian Community Rallies Support

"Of every check I have ever asked you to write, you will never write a check any more important than the one you write tonight," Carol Dover said to the crowd.

Darren Chiacchia's immediate family, have been in Tallahassee since the accident and attended the event. USEF driving champions Chester Weber sent his private plane to Buffalo, New York to bring Darren’s mother and sister to the hospital after the accident. 

Chiacchia’s sister Kimberly Fraser tearfully thanked Weber for coming to get her and her mother. “There were no flights available the week of Darren’s accident, and Chester generously sent his plane to get my mother and myself so we could be by my brother’s side.”

Brother Daniel Chiacchia took a flight from Buffalo on Tuesday. His wife, Jill Chiacchia, along with siblings Kimberly Fraser and Maria Johnson and their spouses were also present. They thanked the Dover family and the ICU staff at TMH. Special guest, state Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Gainesville, also attended the event.

Chiacchia was critically injured after his horse stumbled and flipped in the air and landed on him during the cross-country event at last month's Red Hills Horse Trials in Tallahassee. It's been almost three weeks since the accident and Chiacchia, 43, has been in Tallahassee Memorial Hospital's intensive care unit ever since. He was flown to a Buffalo, N.Y., treatment center aboard a specially equipped medical plane with trained nurse who will be joining Darren Chiacchia, along with their mother, Evelyn Chiacchia.

"I'm completely overwhelmed," Daniel Chiacchia said. "Carol Dover just pulled off a miracle. All of us are just overwhelmed about the amount of support we got from the entire community since we've been here. It's just a tremendous feeling, and I know my brother can feel it as he's lying in his hospital bed."

Daniel Chiacchia said a specially equipped plane was arranged for the trip. "The doctors did a thorough exam of him today and cleared him for the flight," Daniel Chiacchia said. "You can tell he's ready to go." Darren Chiacchia has taken tentative steps, but he can't walk on his own quite yet, and is beginning to recognize and remember better and better every day.

Related Links
equestrianaidfoundation.org
Make a donation for Darren Chiacchia
Fundraising Event in Tallahassee for Olympian Darren Chiacchia - April 2
Equestrian Aid Foundation Sets Up Emergency Fund for Darren Chiacchia

Additional Donors

• Capital Euro Car and University Sales and Service
• Chester Weber
• DeVoe Moore
• Tallahassee Democrat
• Mako Valet
• Thomasville Trucks and Trails
• Outback Steakhouse
• Bonefish
• Harry’s Seafood Bar & Grill
• Tasty Pastry
• Olive Garden
• Famous Dave’s
• Southgate
• Tri Eagle Distributors – Budweiser Distributor
• Capital Ice
• Jake Cox
• Southern Satisfaction
• Sheriff Morris Young
• Unique Video Creations, Association Studios and Shems Hamilton
• Alsco
• Waste Management
• Talquin Portable Restrooms
• Neff Rental
• Capital City Bank
• Sir Speedy Printing
• Robert Dover - Windfall
• Marlene Whitaker
• Tim & Sheryl Holekamp
• Ocala Horse Park and Board
• Senator Steve Oelrich
• Mayor John Marks - Tallahassee
• Mayor Delores Madison – Midway
• Gina Miles