Tammy Stearns Elliott Fund

On Saturday morning, August 2, 2014, Tammy experienced a horrific fall from the top of a second floor stairway. She landed on the very bottom step, taking the entire impact from the fall to her face. The blunt force of the collision was so violent that she broke the bottom step along with most every bone of her face, resulting an extremely serious life-changing trauma.
 
Tammy was stabilized and transported by the Centerville Paramedics Squad via ambulance to Cape Cod Hospital, where she was assessed and immediately rushed by ambulance to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston because of the severity and complexity of her injuries. Once there she underwent hours of emergency surgery to get her stabilized. Tammy came extremely close to losing her life; a fraction of an inch, in fact, and she would not have survived the fall. She spent the next several days at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and was released to the care of her boyfriend Bill Sullivan. 
 
It is a miracle that Tammy is still with us, though she has a very long and excruciating road ahead of her. Her recovery will be daunting with unimaginable physical, psychological and emotional pain pertaining to the location and severity of her injuries.
 
On August 18th Tammy met with her team of surgeons led by Specialist Dr. E.J. Catersen at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Catersen has performed 5 out of the 7 facial transplants that have happened in the United States, and explained to Tammy and Bill that he only sees facial trauma of Tammy’s extent once per year. Dr. Catersen was extremely honest with what she would be facing and that news was shocking for Tammy and all of us who love her so dearly. Certain procedures have to take priority, and those decisions are life changing and permanent. Decisions will be ongoing throughout her healing process. We will take each step as it comes with positivity and love, and pray for the best possible outcome.
 
On August 20th Tammy was admitted for her first scheduled surgery involving pieces of her skull and metal plating to begin the re-structuring of her face. During this procedure Dr. Catersen decided her jaw also needed to be wired shut to assist in keeping her facial structure stabilized during this first part of recovery. The scheduled time for this first surgery was 6-8 hours, but Tammy fought for 10-1/2 hours while her team completed the procedure. She did great, but because of the unforeseen, Tammy spent several extra days in the Intensive Care Unit before being transferred to a step-down. This made her time for this visit in the hospital twice as long as expected.

Dr. Catersen will do the next procedure when he feels Tammy has recovered and gained enough strength to continue. His prognosis is that she will have 3-5 more major facial surgeries over the course of the next two years.

Please keep her close in your prayers. There are times in life we all need help. Tammy is not one to ask for help, rather always the one doing things for others. She is strong, has incredible will, and she will get through this with the love and support of the fantastic people who surround her – and your help.

Tammy is a native of Needham, MA, and a single mom to her daughter Maddie, who is 14. Before the accident Tammy and Maddie resided in the condo that she owns in Foxboro, MA. Maddie is staying with close friends in Foxboro so that she can continue with school as best as possible while Tammy continues to recover under the care of Bill.

Tammy is an integral part of the Ocean Spray Packaging and Print Production Team in Lakeville, MA and has been with the company for 15 years. Ocean Spray is behind her 100% and has been extremely supportive. Through Ocean Spray, Tammy is currently on short-term disability for 6 weeks and then will go onto long-term disability (about the time of this page and this news going public) and income benefits decrease significantly. Even with good medical benefits, the out-of-pocket expenses are sure to be hugely expensive and debilitating. The duration of her recovery and time out from work is still unknown at this time.

When you consider making a donation to help offset the astronomical cost of medical expenses that are about to ensue over the next (projected 2 years), please think about what is in front of Tammy. She will be fighting aggressively for her life during these surgeries and quality of life during her recoveries. The expenses, coupled with the time lost from work, will be a huge burden to Tammy and Maddie.

We want to help her ease the burden of the medical bills, mortgage, and day-to-day living expenses with a teenager. With your help, we can help ease that worry and so she can concentrate on her recovery and getting well.
 
We are setting a goal now that probably won’t come close to the real expense and we will be adjusting the goal as necessary as we get more information on the upcoming out of pocket expenses over these next many months ahead.
 
We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts in advance for your caring, support and love; and we will continue to keep you posted on Tammy’s progress and her road to recovery along the way through the GoFundMe page.
 
Peace, Love and Health to you all.