We wanted to let everyone know that Kevin will not be home for another day or so.  Kevin was admitted to Riddle Hospital in Media to receive some antibiotics to treat an infection.  If you had planned on visiting please either call my dad or me.  Kevin is in room 2610 and visiting hours can be found at http://www.mainlinehealth.org/oth/Page.asp?PageID=OTH000724.  Since Kevin requires special care he is in the ICU.  Please pay attention to their special hours.

 In other news, Kevin has been out and about frequently the past month, being the hit of several parties and gatherings. Two organizations to which Kevin belonged while working, The Business Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and The Business Owners and Managers Association of Philadelphia (PBOMA) both had Christmas parties which Kevin attended.   The BOMA had a luncheon in mid-November at which Kevin was an honored guest. His former employer, Valcourt, also had a Christmas luncheon, which Kevin was able to make. Kevin appreciates seeing everyone at these events.

 Kevin also had a trip with family and friends to his old haunts in the Fairmount section of the city, and had a great time seeing everyone.

 The addition is moving ahead.  The windows and doors are going on today.   When completed, the addition should give Kevin a large degree of privacy and more room to have visitors as well. In the spring we hope to add a deck to complete that part of the project. Thanks to all of the people who have assisted with this project under the direction of Rick and Adam DiSabatino from EDiS Company in Wilmington.

 Kevin will be having a short procedure done in January at Jersey Shore so please call if you plan a visit to make sure we’ll be home.

Thanks to everyone for your support and have a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year.

Pictures of the interior:

It’s been a bit since our last post, but there has been some amazing progress on the addition. We wanted to thank everyone again who has been helping out and share some photos of the progress!

Kevin has been doing well and has been able to get out a bit, including Thanksgiving with the Dickerts. 

What a difference a year makes. When we came to the hospital that fateful morning a year ago, we couldn’t have imagined what lay ahead of us. But we realized quickly that we would have the support we needed along the way, and our expectations were far exceeded by the consistent warmth and support we’ve received. We cannot stress enough how grateful we are for your support over the past year. It has been essential.

Kevin has made some amazing progress in what seems like the blink of an eye, and so has our family. Kevin fought his way back to health, completed a demanding rehabilitation at Magee, and worked hard at learning how to keep himself healthy and adjust to his new life. And he’s done it all with his signature charm and positive attitude. We couldn’t be prouder.

The next phase is completing construction on Kevin’s addition. The addition will give Kevin more personal space and enable him to live more independently. We have a great team of folks who have donated their time and service to help complete the project, especially Rick and Adam DiSabatino from EDiS Construction in Wilmington. (There are a number of contractors and vendors supplying time, labor, and/or materials who we would like to thank, and we will thanking folks as the project moves along!)

The addition is going to be by far the largest expense to date, so we are incredibly grateful for all of your fundraising support for the Kevin Neary Trust. But even more than that, we are grateful for your constant love and support.

As you all know Kevin is dependent on a number of machines to help keep him alive and comfortable.  With out power, many of these would not function for a long period of time.  With Hurricane Sandy getting closer and closer by the hour we have no idea what power may or may not be online over the next few days. 

Thanks to your generosity and support, we were able to purchase and install a back up generator for the entire house a few months ago.  Your support will keep the ventilator working, his power chair charged, and the house a comfortable temperature.  We cannot thank you enough for the peace of mind your support has provided.

Please stay safe and as dry as possible.

While it has been a fairly quiet two weeks since our last update, there has been a great deal of activity going on behind the scenes.

Kevin seems to be doing pretty well.  He has had the chance to get out of the house a few times of the past few weeks.  Thanks to Aunts Peggy and Marianne, Kevin and a few nurses made a little trip to Delaware Park to visit the casino and have a little fun.  The Neary-Kelly clan made a visit and helped get Kevin back into the city for dinner at St. Stephen’s Green.  While we had hoped to make it down to the Piazza, we had a little van trouble and had to call it an early night.  Thanks to everyone who tried to make it out that night. We hope to do it again soon.

Yesterday Kevin had a small procedure to implant a new type of catheter.  The doctors hope this will reduce the risk of infection and facilitate easier changes.   We are happy to report all went very well and he was home the same day.

House Update

We are moving pretty quickly on getting things started with the house.  This Friday the architects will be back out to the house to review the final plans and the permits for the addition are also in progress. We have connected with a group in Minnesota, Design Accessibility (www.accessibilitydesign.com), to do a final review of the plans and make suggestions to create the best possible environment for Kevin.  If anyone has suggestions or is interested in contributing to the project please contact us.

As most of you know, it has been a busy few weeks for Kevin and our family. We had a tremendous event at Citizens Bank Park, where hundreds of people came out to celebrate Kevin’s 30th birthday. We also were able to get some closure with the sentencing of Kevin’s shooter.

Since those events, it has been a quiet few weeks for Kevin. He has been largely healthy, with a small infection setback that has been cleared up. He’s had a lot of visitors and has been able to get out a bit. All things considered, he is doing pretty well.

Next step: Addition to the house

Before we summarize the events of the past month and thank people for their support, we wanted to let everyone know that we are hoping to get started on the addition to the house soon. This is really exciting news, since the addition will be suited to Kevin’s needs and should make life easier for all of us. We would not be able to make this step without your support, so we want to again thank all of your for your generosity.

We are looking to build technologies and accessibility upgrades into the space, and we are happy to have any input. Kevin’s cousin, the amazing Jennifer Stryker, will be collecting information and suggestions on room design, assistive technologies, and others issues for the team working on the project. Of course, it makes the most sense to build these technologies into the layout, so we welcome your suggestions now. If you have any suggestions, please drop Jennifer a note at jenniferstryker@verizon.net.

Sentencing coverage

For those who missed it, there were some really great pieces in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily Times covering the sentencing process. In addition, there was some local TV coverage. We recommend those curious about how the week’s events unfolded visit any of the following:

Philadelphia Inquirer

Daily Times 

Action News

NBC 10

CBS-3

Kevin’s 30^th Birthday Event at Citizens Bank Party

Kevin’s birthday party was a smashing success. We had over four hundred attendees, but with the “Friends of Kevin Neary” logo on the big screen at Citizens Bank Park, it seemed like a city-wide party. We are tremendously grateful to so many people for their donations, attendance, and support – especially the Phillies and the Friends of Kevin Neary committee who pulled together such a fantastic event. With all of your help, we raised over $20,000 for the Kevin Neary Trust, which is going to go a long way! But even more importantly, Kevin had a really great time and loved seeing everyone in one of his favorite places.

For photos from the event, click here: http://christinacelenzaphotography.zenfolio.com/p794177827

That’s all for now — we will have updates as the house progresses. Thanks again for everyone’s support!

As many of you know, the defendant decided to enter a guilty plea on all of the charges, including attempted murder. As a result, sentencing will take place tomorrow.

Part of the sentencing process is the opportunity for those impacted by the crime to offer statements on how it has impacted their lives. These are called “victim impact statements.” For those who are interested in offering victim impact statements, please contact JP Neary at nearyjp@gmail.com. We would like to get a list to the DA as soon as possible to help them plan how to best proceed tomorrow, so please email JP tonight if you plan to give a statement. As we understand it, anyone who would like to can make a statement.  The only limitation is that there cannot be any derogatory statements made specifically about or directed towards the defendant — this is simply an opportunity to talk about the impact of the crime.

Proceedings will begin at 10:30 a.m. We encourage everyone interested in attending to gather by 10 a.m. at the courthouse. The District Attorney would like the opportunity to review how the proceedings and statements will go.

We apologize for the short notice but are glad that this will be behind us. Thanks to everyone for your ongoing support.

And most importantly, we’re looking forward to this Friday, which should be a great night. Tickets are available here: http://fokn30.eventbrite.com/

There are some changes to the trial schedule that were just shared with us and that we need to share with all of you. 

Jury selection did not occur today as planned ,so the start of the trial will be delayed a bit.  Jury selection is now planned for tomorrow morning which will push the start of the trial to tomorrow afternoon.  With this change, Kevin will not testify until Wednesday morning.  That means the proceedings should start by 9:45 am.  We don’t have much more detail than that at present but we will certainly update the site as soon as we have new information.

Thank you to all who have indicated they will be in the court room for the trial.  It is very helpful to be able to provide the District Attorney’s office with a sense of how crowded the court room  might be.  Of course, if you can make it and show your support for Kevin, the District Attorney, and the police officers who have helped build this case we certainly appreciate it.  Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and support as we get closer to closing this chapter of the story.

If you have any questions please feel free to email or call.

With the trial coming up next week there are a few pertinent details we would like to share.

- Trial Schedule: If all goes well the trial will proceed with jury selection on Monday, testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday, summations on Thursday and deliberations on Friday.  If you are planning to attend please email at nearyjp@gmail.com with the date you might want to be there and the names of who all will be coming.  We will send this list off to the District Attorney to help them better manage the courtroom. Please let us know by Tuesday morning.

- Jury selection will take most of the day on Monday, so keep that in mind if you are interested in attending.

- The trial will begin right around 9 a.m. and likely break for an hour for lunch. It should conclude around 4:30 p.m. each day.

- Kevin will likely testify Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning if needed.

- There is a victims/witness waiting area on the first floor where anyone attending can gather.  The trial will begin by 9:00 a.m. most days.  Please allow time to go through security.

- The trial is scheduled for room 907 in the Criminal Justice Center.  The address is 1301 Filbert Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.  For more information please visit: http://www.courts.phila.gov/common-pleas/trial/criminal/

- Cell phones cannot be used in the courtroom and will be taken if they go off or are seen being used.  It is best to turn them off or leave them in your car.

- It is important that while the trial is underway that everyone attending refrain from emotional outbursts regardless of who may or may not be testifying.

Thanks again for your support. It is our hope that the trial will conclude by Friday — we are very much looking forward to Kevin’s birthday party on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. As a reminder, tickets will go up in price on Tuesday, so if you’re coming it makes sense to get them now!

Kevin continues to stay healthy and make progress on the number of hours he spends off the ventilator. He’s currently up to 19 hours off the ventilator each day. Staying healthy has kept him on track and enabled to get out a bit, which has been great. Last week, he was really thrilled to attend the wedding of his friends Scott and Angela. He looked dapper, as usual, and had a great time.

Kevin and the family are really excited for his 30^th birthday party – which is just around the corner. We have some really great details to announce here. Emceed by WIP radio host Glen Macnow, the event will feature fun for the whole family and a really impressive list of auction items. The committee planning the event and our wonderful sponsors have done a really amazing job. For a full catalog of auction items, click here (large PDF document). The catalog includes suggested bids and lots of information about the items.

Some highlights include:

• Philadelphia hotel packages, including admission to various attractions and fun items for the kids
• Visit to Angelo Cataldi’s show, the Mike and Ike show, and the Glen Macnow/Ray Didinger show
• Museum packages (Brandywine, Hagley Museum, Battleship New Jersey, Longwood Gardens, National Constitution Center, and others)
• Tickets to Philly-area comedy venues, theatres, film festivals, ballet, etc.
• Great restaurant gift certificates, including Union Trust, Starr Restaurants, and many others
• Several Philly sports events (the Army-Navy game, Phillies, Eagles, college sports, etc)
• US Airways vouchers
• Backstage passes to NBC10
• Jersey Shore hotels, activities (golf, surfing, fishing, etc.) and food
• Several New York City items, including concerts and restaurants
• Hidden Creek Golf Club hotel and foursome
• Getaway to Washington, DC at the Renaissance Washington Hotel
• Behind the scenes tour of Hardball with Chris Matthews
• NCIS taping in Los Angeles
• Signed Claude Giroux photo

And, as we had announced previously, one much-talked about item is the opportunity to be an extra and bring your friends to a filming of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia! (We thought this was worth mentioning a few times.)

With so many items, there’s a good chance you’ll walk away with something great. We recommend you get your tickets as soon as you can here! And feel free to invite your friends.

Trial Update

As some of you may know, the trial of Christopher Easter will begin on September 10^th.  We will provide pertinent details when they are available, but as a family we will not have any public comments on the trial until it is over.

At this time we continue to focus on Kevin’s progress, keeping him healthy, and his birthday party on September 14^th. We appreciate everyone’s support as we move forward.