John was born on May 23, 2009, to Jen, Todd and big sister, Alexis, completing our family of four. He was the quietest baby who enjoyed eating, sleeping and snuggling. As John began to grow, he enjoyed everything he got involved in and loved being outside! He played soccer when he was little but grew to love baseball, basketball and football; all of which he played kindergarten through eighth grade in the local recreational sports leagues. John played baseball for middle school and high school and tried his hand at football once again in his freshman year.
John took up hunting at ten years of age and enjoyed fishing as well. Another activity John enjoyed was snowboarding. He loved everything about it – the gear, the lifts, the snow & cold, and the slopes. John also developed a love of roller coasters and the bigger they were the more he wanted to ride them. He would laugh and shake his head at the enjoyment he got from the ride. He especially loved going to Knoebels and riding the Pheonix, Impulse and Twister. He is fearless and always willing to try anything. It was no surprise when John became interested in cars and motorcycles. He would watch countless videos of fast cars and bikes racing on tracks or through fields or dirt paths. He had a pit bike that he had outgrown and began to ask for a regular sized dirt bike, which he eventually helped to purchase with money he had saved from his job during the summers.
On October 17, 2024, John was riding his dirt bike home from a friend’s house. About a mile from home, a truck turned in front of him and John collided with the passenger side of the truck. John was cared for at the scene by EMT’s and medevacked to LVHN – Cedar Crest. As a result of the accident, John was in a coma and had right facial fractures, a lacerated spleen, broken left femur, heart & kidney contusions, multiple cuts and bruises and lastly, a severe traumatic brain injury.
It was all so much to hear and between the worry and emotions – it was hard to make sense of what the doctors were saying. We didn’t understand these medical terms; we just wanted to see our son. The days after the accident were critical and emotional. The intercranial pressure in John’s head began to increase and after every attempt was made to help, the result was a left hemi-craniectomy. John was monitored the days after and his ICP numbers began to drop. We could breathe a small sigh of relief. Once John was stable enough, other teams of doctors repaired John’s femur and abdomen. He also had a tracheostomy, and a feeding tube placed. Once all of the surgeries were over, John began to heal.
John spent a total of forty days in the trauma-neuro ICU at Lehigh Valley Hospital – Cedar Crest. His nurses were top-notch and took such good care of him. On November 25th, John was moved to Good Shepherd Pediatric Rehab where he stayed until April 16, 2025. John has been home now for over three months. He has recovered from all of his superficial injuries and continues to make strides in his brain injury recovery. John receives physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy every week. He sees a team of doctors that monitor all types of things going on in his body.
We are honored that John has been selected as a recipient of the Shannon Daley Memorial Fund. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! – The Kersten’s