Danny

We’re running a series on our instructors – but the side you don’t see in the studio every day. Get to know our team even better through these interviews and hopefully we can all connect on an even deeper level.

Even though Danny hasn’t taught for the last few months, he’s still very much part of our team and of course in every single class in spirit. Danny has been in North Carolina with his wife awaiting her surgeries for a rare medical condition. He talked to us about what they’ve been going through and his advice for staying at home.

You’ve been gone since December and we miss you a lot. Can you tell us about the last 5 months and how you’re doing? 

Haley (my wife) and I moved to North Carolina in early December. We’re living in the basement of my in-law’s house and we have a bedroom, bathroom, and little common area with a mini fridge, microwave, and instant pot. We were using the kitchen upstairs but Haley’s surgeon advised her to remain completely isolated from anyone going outside because if she gets COVID then she can’t have the surgery she needs for at least 6 months. 

Though we’re staying at Haley’s family’s house, all of Haley’s family members have been deemed “essential workers” and face potential daily exposure so we have to keep Haley isolated. Her condition is too severe for just me alone to help so we’re lucky that my mom is here to help us.

I miss everybody at SPARK, from the staff to every single rider that I have ever taken a class with or taught a class to and I cannot wait to be back there with you.

For those who don’t know/as a recap: what is Haley’s condition?

Haley’s skull isn’t connected to her spine and she has a rare degenerative tissue disorder which means the muscles in her neck can’t compensate and hold her head up. She has to lay flat 24 hours a day. 

I describe it like this: her neck is like the game Jenga. Everyday that she doesn’t get the surgery she needs it’s like someone takes another block away and puts it on top. Her head keeps getting heavier and heavier on a neck that’s getting weaker and weaker. 

What surgery does she need?

She needs a cranial cervical fusion which will fuse her spine to her skull with two metal rods and as well as fascia decompression surgery which requires them to drill a hole in the back of her skull so that the build up of spinal fluid can drain.

The standard fusion leaves patients with 30% mobility but the surgeon we’ve been working with estimates that this specific kind of fusion should give her 80% mobility and the success rate for returning to normal life is 90%. 

The post-surgery recovery is about a year and a half long but this surgery will offer her relatively instant relief. 

What’s the status of the surgery?

Insurance denied covering the surgery in January after ignoring the expert diagnosis and opinion of two top neurosurgeons which is forcing us to pay for everything out of pocket. 

It’s really, really hard. We just deal with each day and the unique challenges that each day brings.

I truly can’t imagine what you are going through. How do you get through it? 

I’ve leaned on my religious side of myself and have relied on prayer and faith. It’s absolutely what’s kept me grounded and able to take this on. The same goes for Haley; it’s our faith and our trust in our belief system.

How can we help? 

We have established a medical trust that you can donate to through Venmo (@mccarthy-trust) as well as a GoFundMe page. You can also follow Haley’s journey through the Haley’s Hope for Health Facebook page. All donations go directly towards Haley’s surgery and we really appreciate your kindness and thoughts. 

You guys have been staying at home since before COVID even reached the U.S. Do you have any advice for (relative) newbies to quarantine?

Find a physical activity that you can do inside. For me, it’s a row machine. Amazon has some cheap rowing machines that are awesome. If you’ve been missing a bike, I would highly recommend a row machine. They’re quiet, mine only took me 30 minutes to assemble, and it’s such a tough workout. It’s taken me months to get up to resistance level 7 (of 8). 

I’d also recommend prayer and/or meditation for 10 minutes a day. I’m a big fan of consciousness meditation where you address every thought as it comes into your mind. Don’t worry about how screwed up your thoughts may or not be; you will have some weird thoughts and it’s okay. Let your brain have these thoughts because otherwise the thoughts will take over in other areas of your life. You have nothing to be insecure about, they’re your thoughts, just have them.

Have you been working at all?

I’ve still been writing part time as a freelance writer. I write blogs, website copy, and email copy and a lot of my clients are, believe it or not, fashion and beauty. I apparently have a knack for writing for women’s fashion and beauty. I just did a big batch of blog articles for Zola. 

I’ve also been starting to compose a new solo album. It’s more singer-songwriter and less band oriented so I was hoping to have more time to do that but I’m hoping to have that done by the end of this year. 

Do you still play music or just write?

My band took a hiatus because of me in August 2019. We had a tour to Salt Lake City and Denver in June and then we played a few shows in July and then in August it was too much for me to commit to gigs. We have every intention of getting back together as a band once Haley is in a more stable place. Both of my bandmates are super understanding and are awaiting the word. 

We’ve recorded two albums, one is on Spotify now and the other one we haven’t released yet. But we did shoot a music video from the unreleased album -- and I think you might recognize the location.

Last question: how’d you get the name Kid Wilderness?

It was the name of a song I wrote. We didn’t love the song but liked the song name so we used it as our band name.