PARSIPPANY —On July 29, 2021, Lake Hiawatha mother-of-four, Tracey Pechman, found her 20-year-old son, Jacob at the foot of their household stairs, in anguish, having suffered a slip and fall. While one would expect the pain to have elicited his cries for help, it was worse – he had lost all sensation from the waist down and was lying on the floor, completely incapacitated.
Jacob’s brother called 911, and it took the paramedics over an hour to carefully mobilize the young man into transit, as they tried not to further disrupt his spine. Next, Jacob was whisked to Morristown Memorial where tests were inconclusive about the exact damage that was causing immobility until, on day two, a second MRI showed the spinal cord damage. A neurosurgeon scheduled him for immediate surgery, removing two of the young man’s lower vertebrae.
On August 4, Jacob was moved from the hospital to Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange for intensive therapy to try to help him regain his strength. Monday, August 16, Jacob returns to his home in Parsippany grappling with nerve damage, extreme pain, and spasms that make walking without assistance difficult; but, he is making progress, having just moved from wheelchair to walker and cane. His family has been told they will need to transport him back and forth to the same rehab at least three times a week, if not more, as he recovers.
A family member started a gofundme to support Parsippany’s Pechman family. Click here to view the GoFundMe page.
Mr. Joseph Flanagan
Assistant Principal with Jacob
They are a single-income household with four children, the youngest of whom is still in middle school, and an 84-year-old grandparent who also resides with them. The father of the family, Steve, recently began a new job and works very long hours out of the home, after suffering lost wages at his prior employer that had pandemic-related reductions in hours. While the family’s new health insurance is in place covering Jacob, there are limits and a high deductible – surgery, therapies and a lengthy list of medications leave many out-of-pocket expenses. In addition, the family has been struggling without Tracey, who needs to stay by Jacob’s side, as they make or buy meals without mom, while their father is at work. The worries about Jacob’s health expenses add more concern as the family is trying to focus on helping Jacob heal from this accident.
Jacob has grown up in Parsippany, having graduated from Rockaway Meadow, then Central Middle School, and, recently, Parsippany High School. He had just accepted a job offer, and his accident puts this part of his life on hold for now, as the young man’s attention turns to recovery. The family expressed their appreciation for friends and neighbors who continue to express their care and concern.
Jacob graduated Parsippany High School
