Times Picayune: Split Second Foundation receives substantial donations after CCC, April 20, 2019
Split Second Foundation • August 12, 2019
Photo courtesy Crista Rock
From the Times Picayune:
Mark Raymond Jr.’s dream took a big step toward becoming a reality Saturday.
After finishing a charitable run of the 2019 AllState Sugar Bowl Crescent City Classic, Raymond announced two substantial donations to his foundation, totaling $35,000, from Darryl Willis and Lance Thomas.
Willis is Raymond’s godfather and also serves as the vice president of oil, gas and energy for Google. Thomas was the captain of the 2018-19 New York Knicks, and has known Raymond since he played for the New Orleans Hornets.
Both said they could not envision Raymond’s organization being in any better hands.
Watch Split Second Foundation founder Mark Raymond Jr. in his appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show this Tuesday, May 7th!
The last thing Mark Raymond Jr. remembers in those final seconds before the accident was standing in the back of his buddy’s boat at the end of a perfect July afternoon in 2016, and staring down into the waters of Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain. Then he dove in and instantly felt his forehead slam into the sandy bottom of the lake. “I couldn’t move and realized, 'I’m probably going to drown,’ " Raymond tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. “My last thoughts were about my mom and just praying that my friends would realize what was happening.” He was close to death when his pals pulled him out of the water and performed CPR. Two weeks later, Raymond awoke from a medically induced coma in a New Orleans hospital to discover that he’d fractured the fifth vertebrae in his neck and could no longer walk or fully use his hands. “I quickly learned that my life was going to be really different,” he says. “To call it a huge adjustment is an understatement.” Read more.
Split Second Fitness founder Mark Raymond Jr. talks about his organization which is the first gym focusing on individuals with a disabling condition and transforming individuals’ hope into action. Read more.
