Carson Pforsich hosting Santa Rosa fundraiser to help others with spinal cord injuries

After struggling last year with the rickety ramp on their wheelchair-accessible vehicle, Carson Pforsich and his girlfriend Desi D’Ancona of Sebastopol organized a fundraiser to help them buy a new, more reliable one.

It was a huge success. So successful, in fact, they decided to do it again this year.

But with a twist.

On Sunday, the big fall festival will not benefit Pforsich. It will benefit two North Bay residents, who, like Pforsich, have suffered spinal cord injuries.

“When I first brought up the idea, he hesitated,” D’Ancona, 24, said. “He said, ‘Well, I’ll continue to do it but only to help other people.”

So the “Carson & Desi Presents Pforsich Pfall Pfundraising Pfestivities” part two was launched.

Pforsich and D’Ancona solicited nominations for worthy beneficiaries of the community’s largesse.

“A lot of people are not lucky enough to have communities that are as amazing as his and who show up like this,” D’Ancona said.

Spread the wealth, they thought.

Pforsich was a senior and multisport athlete at Analy High School in 2017 when he broke his neck diving into the water off Pinnacle Gulch in Bodega Bay.

Today Pforsich, 24, uses a wheelchair to get around, and is studying for the first of four exams en route to becoming a certified public accountant.

But he knows how devastating injuries like his can be. And how debilitating it can be financially.

And he expresses freely how lucky he is to have the love and support of his community. So now he wants share those gifts.

He and D’Ancona, who have registered their operation as a nonprofit, are hosting what they are calling a fall festival fit for the whole family Sunday in Santa Rosa.

Pforsich Pfall Pfundraising Pfestivities will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Backdrop in Santa Rosa. There will be a raffle and silent auction, games and food, as well as live music. All ages are welcome.

“It’s family-friendly fun, have some good food and have some entertainment and get to know and meet the two recipients this year,” Pforsich said. “It’s to not only spread awareness of their stories but really spread awareness of what life is like with a spinal cord injury in general and how difficult it can be.”

“We made our mission statement to help people with spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders with medical hardships,” he said.

One of the two inaugural year recipients is Carson Dohemann, 32, of Novato.

Dohemann, like Pforsich, suffered a spinal cord injury in a swimming accident.

He is almost entirely paralyzed from his chest down.

Pforsich and Dohemann both work out at SCI-FIT in Petaluma. SCI-FIT targets clients dealing with spinal cord injury, strokes and neurological disorders.

Dohemann’s training and physical therapy work at SCI-FIT is paid for with grants. Any money raised through the Pforsich event will help him continue to get therapy sessions when those grants run their course, Dohemann said.

“This fundraiser is going to allow me to keep doing that,” he said.

And maintaining strength is crucial, he said.

“It’s really important because without the trainers at SCI-FIT, I can’t get out of the chair on my own,” he said. “Moving in general for my body, keeping my muscles strong. They atrophy fast.”

Dohemann said beyond the fundraising, he’s excited to see the event in its earliest stages.

“It’s really their first step in a journey in this nonprofit world. They’re raising money and helping people and I think it’s really cool to see,” he said. “This is the smallest of what it’s going to be in my mind, so it’s kind of cool to be at the forefront.”

The other beneficiary of the Nov. 3 event is Andre Abarca, 29, of Novato.

Abarca suffered a spinal cord injury in a 2023 motorcycle accident, according to his profile on Pforsich’s site.

Going forward, Pforsich and D’Ancona envision an event that builds on momentum and pulls in multiple nominations from the community each year.

“We want it to be where we are well known enough that family members or friends can nominate their loved ones to be a potential recipient in the future,” Pforsich said.

Pforsich knows something about momentum and moving forward. He just wants to spread the message to the wider world.

“I have received great help from Sonoma County and this community, but a lot of people are not as fortunate as I have been,” Pforsich said. “I want to pay it forward.”

You can reach Staff Columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com. On Instagram @kerry.benefield.