"True Bonacker" Needs Community Support in Recovery

Friends and family of Mark Schmitt, a lifelong East Hampton resident, will gather later this month at the in Amagansett to show their support for a man they described as a "true Bonacker."

On Aug. 8., the 23-year-old suffered a traumatic brain injury after falling from a balcony in the Springs. He was diagnosed with two broken vertebra, two broken bones in the face and skull, as well as severe brain swelling. After spending more than two months in an intensive care unit at Stony Brook University Medical Center, he was moved to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, where he is recovering from a condition called neuro-storming.

Neuro-storming, according to a 2007 article published by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses posted on the Mark Schmitt Fundraiser website, is an increase in activity in the sympathetic nervous system which leaves the nervous system in an "uncontroled state of stress." Left untreated, the condition can lead to increased risk of secondary injury to the brain.

"Mark has a long road ahead of him," said Schmitt's sister Stacey McCumiskey. "His mobility is impeded and his ability to move his limbs is impeded." McCumiskey said that her brother is scheduled to leave Mount Sinai at the end of the month, stepping down from an "acute hospital setting" to a "sub-acute setting." The family is currently looking for a rehabilitation facility.

"With a brain injury you don't know how far you will go," said McCumiskey, addressing her brother's prognosis. "He is making progress and we hope to get him back to where he was before. He needs his friends there for him."

Clinton Wizelius, who graduated with Schmitt in 2006, is organizing the fundraiser for his friend.

"Mark is one of my best buddies," said Wizelius. "I hope the fundraiser will take some of the stress off his family," he said, noting that Schmitt's siblings, sisters, Stacey and Liz, and twin brother, Matt, are also coping with the deaths of their parents, both of whom passed away within the last three years.

In a statement that appeared on the fundraiser webpage, Wizelius wrote "Mark needs us to be there for him as we have been for other members of our small, beautiful community. Unfortunately, with the passing of his mother and father, Mark has had only his siblings and friends to be there for him. That's why this is a time for us to act now and do something more than generous for a person, but do something that will change his life forever."

Clinton's mother, Corinne Wizelius, who has cared for Schmitt in her home over the years, described Mark as a "remarkable person who writes his own music and has a lust for life and cooking."

Clinton and his mother have been touched by the community's outpouring of support.

"This all happened," Clinton said, referring to the fundraiser, "because of people coming together to offer their support."

The will be at the American Legion in Amagansett on Nov. 26 from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $15; children are free. There will be food, music, a raffle and silent auction with prizes donated by in Amagansett, , , , , , and more.