I've lived in Sonoma for five years and North Bay for 25, I currently work on the Sonoma City Traffic & Safety Committee and as the founder of Elevate Sonoma Hyperbaric. In 2018, after 38 years as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch, I began experiencing memory loss and impaired decision-making, confirmed by neuropsychological exams that led to my retirement on disability in 2018. My condition worsened by 2021, severely impacting executive, memory and verbal functions. Complicating matters, I fractured two vertebrae and ruptured two discs in my spinal cord in a ladder fall in late 2019 and underwent emergency surgery. Encouraged by Joe Namath's experience and serious prodding from my wife Darcy, I pursued Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and have since completed over 230 sessions at a treatment center and then an additional 170 hours in my own chamber.

After my last major concussion in 2009, MRI scans confirmed brain damage in my frontal lobe which resulted in a permanent loss of smell, as my olfactory nerve was severed. However, after my 185th treatment during the fall of 2022, I returned home and, for the first time since the injury, could suddenly smell garlic while my wife was cooking—a moment that felt like a rebirth. 

I am a member of Sonoma’s Bocce Ball Club at age 65 (one of the younger members). Inspired to help others after hearing conversations about dementia, brain fog, strokes and related conditions, I offered to invest in state-of-the-art equipment and open a facility in Sonoma. Regardless of profit, if my children wished to operate it. My goal is simply to provide healing opportunities to the community.

My journey through these challenges has taught me a great deal about resilience and hope. Despite facing setbacks with my health, I found strength in seeking out new therapies and support. Connecting with others who understood my experience made a significant difference, reminding me that I was not alone in this battle.