WEST CAPE MAY – Santa came early for the Senft family, as Archer, the teen who developed quadriplegia after a swimming accident in 2015, learned he had been accepted “early decision” into the engineering school at the University of Pennsylvania.
“We have exciting news,” his mother, Louise, announced to a small group of friends. “We have not given up and remain hopeful Archer will get use of his arms and hands someday and walk. The next project for us is ensuring his nursing, medical and rehab care is in place in Philly, and a driver, so he can be successful. It’s a lot to figure out, plus figuring tuition, but we feel so very optimistic and hopeful for Arch.
“I think we are all comforted he’s not far from Baltimore (where the family lives) or our Pennsylvania and Cape May friends,” she added. “It’s all connected; I feel it. And you are all part of the creative miracle.”
The Kingdoms Network Christian Broadcasting website describes a creative miracle as “God’s healthcare plan for man. A supernatural event created by God for man’s care.”
Senft described the scenario of Archer preparing for college as the “concerto of his lifetime,” saying that he has been working “undaunted, with very little sleep, with fervor” since this past summer. He has caught up with his classmates after missing months of classes after the accident.
“We had six different schools coming together to keep him going,” his mother said, including tutors who visited him while he was in the hospital and rehab. “He is taking Advanced Placement courses, and worked every day, even during the summer, on his schoolwork.”
This fall, for example, she said Archer spent 11-15 hours every Saturday studying physics.
He hopes to combine his interest with animation, engineering and art design, having already started a business called Slimeyardslimes.com where his snail designs are placed on t-shirts and neck ties and sold. The business employs three friends, his brother, and two mothers and he hopes to use profits for his college tuition.
“Archer is so bright, so driven,” Senft said about her son, “but out of the box. God is inspiring him, and I just know he will do something amazing.”
Applying to college was no easy task for the Senfts as they needed to consider everything from the weather to the facilities provided at each college Archer was interested in.
This summer and in September, his mother said Archer went to the University of Pennsylvania and met with the department staff to learn about their program. Then each parent visited the school to look at housing, the program, and other facilities.
“Winters in Philadelphia are not easy, and we need to be sure Arch will be OK and able to get around in the rain and snow,” Senft said.
The school has a dorm, called “the new dorm,” that is handicapped accessible courtesy of parents of another disabled student in the engineering program.
Besides his school work and tending to any medical needs, Archer continues going to rehabilitation six hours a week, has aqua rehab once a week, and rides a bike with electrodes two hours a week at home. Now that he is 18, his mother said “things are a bit more complicated because of privacy laws.
What is covered by insurance is an ongoing job in-and-of-itself, and we want to empower Archer to make his own decisions about alternate therapies, nutrition and nurse management.
It’s a lot to handle, and we are helping him along the way, and hope that positive thinking and hope will carry the day.”
Besides staying on top of his ongoing medical and day-to-day needs, the Senfts are proceeding with plans to renovate their home in West Cape May, thanks in part to donations from the community, including a benefit held in Cape May this past summer.
Senft said they hope to put in a bathroom and sleeping porch for Archer this spring, and improve the entrance into their home, once they receive approval from the borough’s planning and zoning boards.
“Archer is beginning again with hope,” his mother said, referring to a saying she inscribed in a new cement ramp outside their home in West Cape May.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
