Michael Brent Resource Center

About » About Michael Brent

In 1997 Michael Brent, then 18 years old, suffered a severe spinal cord injury in an automobile accident on his way home from Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky. In a single moment, the accident left this athletically and academically gifted young man paralyzed from the neck down. A few weeks later, a group of friends organized a car wash and bake sale to raise funds to help Michael and his family with the astronomical expenses associated with this type of injury.

After raising over $1,600 in their first effort, the group organized several other fund raisers, thus the name “Friends for Michael”. In one year, the group raised enough money to pay off Michael’s handicap accessible van. In going back and forth to Frazier Rehab Institute for physical therapy, Michael met other people with spinal cord injuries that had little or no support from family and friends so he wanted to keep the organization going. In 1999 Friends for Michael incorporated and became a 501 (C) 3 nonprofit organization. By 2001, the organization had joined forces with the University of Louisville Spinal Cord Injury Research Center and began donating a large portion of the money raised to research. Friends for Michael continued to provide assistance to victims of spinal cord injury, providing them with vans, wheelchairs, ramps and other equipment necessary to improve their quality of life. A lot of the success Friends for Michael has experienced over the years can be attributed to Michael and the inspiration he gave us to continue our efforts. Read more…