Charitable organization changes the livelihood of injured contractor
LITTLETON, N.H. — For the past 41 years, Elzey and Elaine Burkham ran Burkham Construction, a contracting firm performing residential, new construction, and renovation work in Campton, New Hampshire, on the southern edge of the White Mountains. They dreamed of retiring to a cabin they would construct near their beloved mountains. In anticipation of that day, they built a cabin in Littleton, New Hampshire, on the northern edge of the White Mountains, which they called their little slice of heaven on earth. They planned to live there with their German short-haired pointer named Tikka. In February, Elzey Burkham slipped on the ice and broke his hip. For four months, he struggled with pain and doctors told him he needed a new hip. He had hip replacement surgery on June 20, 2016, but on July 6, doctors discovered an infection and put him on antibiotics. A week later the redness was gone, but Elzey was running a temperature. He was advised to go to the emergency room, and when he did, he told the doctor that his legs were going numb. He was admitted to the hospital, and was transferred the next day to a Regional Medical Center.
The infection had done its damage, and Elzey woke up paralyzed from the chest down on July 16.