MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — A man from Menomonee Falls was celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary in Iceland when, on the last day of the trip, he fell and sustained a life-threatening brain injury. After spending weeks in an Icelandic ICU, Tom Proffitt is now back in the United States and remains in critical condition.
Watch Paris Fransway's report in the video player below:
Proffitt was born and raised in southeast Wisconsin and currently lives in Menomonee Falls.
"He is just a huge fan of all things Wisconsin; he loves all Wisconsin sports. He would be so thrilled to know that the Brewers are going to the World Series and he would be right in that stadium if he could," Jackie Seidl, Proffitt's daughter, said.
Proffitt is also a lifelong member and volunteer at Sherman Park Lutheran Church, according to Seidl.
"He's one of our best, most faithful pillars that we have," said Ben Schimm, a pastor at Sherman Park Lutheran Church. "He's taken care of so many in a variety of things. He knows where everything is; he knows the people here very well and their interests."
For their 50th wedding anniversary, Proffitt and his wife decided to leave home and celebrate abroad.
"They spent seven days hiking all over Iceland and seeing the sights," Seidl said.
On the last day of the trip, Proffitt sustained a life-threatening brain injury.
"We're not totally sure (what happened). He tripped or fell or something going down the stairs, and (he) fell and hit his head on the sidewalk," Seidl said.
Proffitt had surgery and spent 17 days in a Reykjavík ICU.
"Finally on this past Monday, we were able to get him back to Wisconsin, where he's still in the ICU," Seidl said.
While supporting Proffitt, his family also has to think about paying international medical bills.
"What we didn't realize was that Medicare does not cover overseas hospitals or international hospital stays," Seidl said.
Seidl estimates the cost will be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Because he is not a European resident, he doesn't qualify for (Iceland's) universal healthcare program over there, so everything — the 17 days in the ICU in Iceland — has to come out of pocket," Seidl said.
A GoFundMe has been started to help and has already received community support.
"None of us ever want a loved one to be in pain. There's that drive to see whatever we can do just as humans to try to help and alleviate some of that pain and be supportive," Schimm said.
"It's just been really, really touching," Seidl said. "Being able to provide some financial relief for my parents for this really unexpected, huge medical expense would just be such a relief.
Seidl says Proffitt's condition is starting to improve.
"(He's) starting to actually make some progress and come out of it. We're seeing his eyes open, (he's) wiggling his toes, squeezing our hands," Seidl said.
She hopes he gets better in time for the World Series.
"Hopefully he wakes up, and we can watch it on the TV together," Seidl said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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