But Kevin’s sky seemed to fall last November 29th when his wife, Jina, and twin three-year-old sons, Mykal and Dylan, experienced a terrible car accident. Jina said their jeep wobbled and she lost control around a turn on Highway 26 between Waupun and Rosendale, Wisconsin.  They were headed to Oshkosh to celebrate Jina’s grandmother's 90th birthday.

The jeep slammed into a tree on the passenger side—where Mykal was sleeping in his car seat—then crashed head-on into another tree causing massive head injuries to Mykal. Jina was critically injured breaking her right leg and arm, left hand and suffered life-threatening injuries to her liver and spleen. She finally returned home three months later at the end of February.  Dylan received a broken collar bone and lacerations on his face and head.

Kevin had just finished a 12-hour shift at University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison when he got the call to go to Waupun.  After he rushed there, he discovered that Jina, Dylan and Mykal had been flown by helicopter to Milwaukee for emergency medical attention.

Fortunately, they all survived. Doctors set Dylan’s broken collar bone. Mykal suffered severe head trauma and had seven plates inserted in his head.  He fell into a coma for 10 days and was hospitalized in Milwaukee and then Madison for over a month.

“Mykal has some neurological issues with memory, attention span, speech difficulties and balance problems,” Kevin said. “The outlook for him is hopeful, but we won't know for some time about permanent damage. Jina is recuperating well. She still has major bouts with the overall physical pain, but she’s getting through. Dylan was awake during the accident and saw everything. So he's having some bad nightmares associated with this. Being so young, he can't really express himself. So that's pretty rough.”

Kevin isn’t sure when things might get back to normal. “There's no such thing as normal any more,” Kevin said. “Between doctor and therapy appointments, insurance reps, meetings with social workers...it’s overwhelming.”

Before the accident, Jina worked at an assisted-living facility. She hopes to be back to work by the end of the year. Until then, money is tight. Four of Kevin’s Scout brothers have stepped up to help financially, as have his co-workers. But while the majority of bills were covered by insurance, the family still faces over $15,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses.

“Mykal needs special leg braces for his balance that run $200,” Kevin said. “He's going to have to wait until we can afford them.”

Kevin has drawn on his experience in the Madison Scouts to help him get through the last three months. “Mental discipline, the ability to stay focused on a task—those are probably the two lessons from the Scouts that got me through,” he said. “I had to keep reminding myself that it could be worse.”

Alumni who have aged out of the Madison Scouts know the emotions experienced while huddling up with fellow Scouts to sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” for the last time. The feeling that you’d do anything for your brothers around you. The sense of loss you’d feel if anything terrible happened to one of them or their family members.

Kevin and his family would appreciate any financial support you could provide to help defer the medical expenses they are facing. You can help by sending a check to:

Hochstetter Family Fund
508 DeForest St Apt 1
DeForest, WI 53532-1548 USA

The Hochstetter Family thanks you for your generosity. May You Never Walk Alone.

Written by Chris Hollenback, 91-97 alumnus