As soon as Kevin finished high school, he started working construction. He started off as a laborer doing framing work for a small construction company. Over the next 10 years, he designed and built custom sheds, and worked as a foreman doing finish carpentry for a construction firm which builds housing developments and condos. Then Kevin moved on to installing replacement as well as new flooring for an organization which specialized in custom jobs and designs. In 2018, he went to work for New Hampshire Granite and Renovations, where he ran a crew renovating properties. The scope of work included demolition, design and construction.

On July 20, 2019 Kevin incurred a C5/C6 spinal cord injury from a diving accident at his daughter’s birthday party!

As a result, Kevin lost the use of his legs and fingers, but does have some arm and bicep movement. Kevin’s wife fought with the insurance company, but they only approved 14 days of inpatient rehab before sending Kevin home. Unfortunately, this is commonplace in the case of life altering injuries like these, and the family is left scrambling in order to make the home habitable, and adapt to a totally new lifestyle in a very short period of time. As is typical in these situations, Kevin’s primary needs were for a ramp to be able to get back into his home, and a bedroom/bath remodel. Fortunately, two things were on Kevin side. First, the company he worked for, New Hampshire Granite and Renovations, jumped in to help. Second, Kevin’s wife found the Joseph Groh Foundation through the United Spinal Association. Joe is currently a volunteer blog writer for the North Texas chapter of this organization. New Hampshire Granite had never done an ADA bath remodel before, so the foundation provided them with information and pictures of previous remodels in order to assist. A small company, New Hampshire Granite couldn’t afford to write off the cost of such a project, but in the end, the foundation paid for materials, (which New Hampshire Granite negotiated down) and about 25% of the total labor costs.

For New Hampshire Granite, it was a labor of love for one of their own. According to Kevin’s wife, “Kevin is an active, positive, and upbeat father and husband, and his goal now was figuring out his life and working on regaining as much functionality as possible in order to help provide for his family.” Kevin loves creating and designing projects, and has a self proclaimed great eye for detail, along with a strong focus on the finished product. He loves new challenges and learning new skills, all of which will help him as he re-creates a new life for himself and his family. See more pictures below from this project.

About The Joseph Groh Foundation

Joe Groh has been active in the heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) industry for the past 35 years. On Father’s Day of 2008, following a day spent with family, Joe decided to go for an aerobic bike ride along the trails of Lake Grapevine. At one point the trail turned sharply left and the front tire of Joe’s mountain bike slid on some sand and off the trail. Joe was thrown headfirst over the handlebars, breaking his neck and damaging his spinal cord at the C-4 vertebra. Knowing that life had suddenly and unalterably changed, Joe vowed to never look back, never give up and to remain positive.

Establishing The Joseph Groh Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible foundation, is Joe’s way of giving back to the construction trades industry by:

• Serving as a clearinghouse of information for those with spinal cord injuries.
• Encouraging companies to offer and employees to purchase short and long-term disability insurance.
• Financially assisting those with a connection to the construction trades industry who are living with a life altering injury or illness.

Learn more about Joe and the foundation at http://www.josephgrohfoundation.org.