Please help my grandpa!
Donation protected
At 2:30am on December 6th, my 61 year old grandfather was on his
way back from delivering a package for work when he fell asleep at the wheel and
ran into the back of a salt truck. He was rushed immediately 40-odd miles away
to an urgent care hospital with life-threatening injuries and placed in
surgical ICU. For 16 hours my mother, grandmother and I sat in the hospital
waiting for updates and finally, we were allowed to see him. He was in bad
shape: he had two black eyes, multiple lacerations to his face as well as
several teeth missing, not to mention all of his internal injuries.
His nurses explained to us that it was an absolute miracle my grandfather even survived long enough to make it to the hospital, as the kind of accident my grandpa had would have killed over 95% of victims on impact. At the time, they also explained that my grandpa had multiple broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade, lacerations to his face and neck that required 18 stitches, and the worst...a two-layer tear in his aorta that would require surgery within hours.
We were told not to expect much, and that it was touch and go. My grandmother, one of the strongest, most passionate women I know, broke down into tears the moment she left the hospital after visiting with my grandfather. It has been years since I've seen her cry, and in that moment I knew I had to do something. My grandfather was told he was a candidate for a research study for an operational mesh that would be placed around the aortic stent they would place during his surgery. Though the mesh (a $14k dollar piece) would be free, the surgery itself would still cost thousands of dollars. Overall, all of his operations and medical bills will wind up costing over 100 thousand dollars.
My grandparents have no health insurance and their car insurance only covers so much. My grandpa wound up having the surgery, but my grandmother continued to suffer due to the knowledge of bills. The surgery was a success, but in doing a CAT scan as well as an MRI, it was discovered that my grandpa had a bulging disk in his neck that would require surgery, but also, he has several torn ligaments in his neck that require a third surgery.
The spinal surgeon who performed my grandfather's second surgery was visibly stunned that my grandpa was not quadriplegic (luckily, my grandpa has full use of his limbs and has not had any problems with walking from this).
My grandma and grandpa live in the same house as my mother and I, and my grandpa is the only source of income between my grandma and grandpa. His car is completely totaled and there is no way on their insurance to get a rental, and due to the accident and the car, my grandpa does not have a job now to support my grandma and him. My mother has her own job but she can barely afford to support the two of us as is (she's a single mom) and I don't know what we as a family are going to do.
My grandfather has been doing well, but every day new issues have been arising. His third surgery has been rescheduled three times due to my grandpa's stomach being too bloated due to medicine and being stationary, and his right eye is filled with red that may be an issue that would be need to be worked on in the future. The doctors have told us that he may need four or five surgeries in total.
I love my grandpa and I worry so much about him every day. My grandma is suffering so much from this ordeal and I cannot handle watching her suffer like this due to bills and stress. I worry about her heart and her blood pressure, as well as my mother, who has been using her gas money to drive us every day 30 miles back and forth to the hospital to see my grandpa.
I know it's the holidays and everyone is limited on money, but I am begging anyone who reads this to try and help. Even if you can't give, please help me try and spread the word about this to anyone and everyone you know. Any little bit (whether it by 5 dollars or 50) will truly help. I've added some incentive goals for anyone who, like me, is in fandom and Tumblr.
I appreciate EACH AND EVERY ONE of you who has taken the time to read my plea and spread the word. Thank you.
His nurses explained to us that it was an absolute miracle my grandfather even survived long enough to make it to the hospital, as the kind of accident my grandpa had would have killed over 95% of victims on impact. At the time, they also explained that my grandpa had multiple broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade, lacerations to his face and neck that required 18 stitches, and the worst...a two-layer tear in his aorta that would require surgery within hours.
We were told not to expect much, and that it was touch and go. My grandmother, one of the strongest, most passionate women I know, broke down into tears the moment she left the hospital after visiting with my grandfather. It has been years since I've seen her cry, and in that moment I knew I had to do something. My grandfather was told he was a candidate for a research study for an operational mesh that would be placed around the aortic stent they would place during his surgery. Though the mesh (a $14k dollar piece) would be free, the surgery itself would still cost thousands of dollars. Overall, all of his operations and medical bills will wind up costing over 100 thousand dollars.
My grandparents have no health insurance and their car insurance only covers so much. My grandpa wound up having the surgery, but my grandmother continued to suffer due to the knowledge of bills. The surgery was a success, but in doing a CAT scan as well as an MRI, it was discovered that my grandpa had a bulging disk in his neck that would require surgery, but also, he has several torn ligaments in his neck that require a third surgery.
The spinal surgeon who performed my grandfather's second surgery was visibly stunned that my grandpa was not quadriplegic (luckily, my grandpa has full use of his limbs and has not had any problems with walking from this).
My grandma and grandpa live in the same house as my mother and I, and my grandpa is the only source of income between my grandma and grandpa. His car is completely totaled and there is no way on their insurance to get a rental, and due to the accident and the car, my grandpa does not have a job now to support my grandma and him. My mother has her own job but she can barely afford to support the two of us as is (she's a single mom) and I don't know what we as a family are going to do.
My grandfather has been doing well, but every day new issues have been arising. His third surgery has been rescheduled three times due to my grandpa's stomach being too bloated due to medicine and being stationary, and his right eye is filled with red that may be an issue that would be need to be worked on in the future. The doctors have told us that he may need four or five surgeries in total.
I love my grandpa and I worry so much about him every day. My grandma is suffering so much from this ordeal and I cannot handle watching her suffer like this due to bills and stress. I worry about her heart and her blood pressure, as well as my mother, who has been using her gas money to drive us every day 30 miles back and forth to the hospital to see my grandpa.
I know it's the holidays and everyone is limited on money, but I am begging anyone who reads this to try and help. Even if you can't give, please help me try and spread the word about this to anyone and everyone you know. Any little bit (whether it by 5 dollars or 50) will truly help. I've added some incentive goals for anyone who, like me, is in fandom and Tumblr.
I appreciate EACH AND EVERY ONE of you who has taken the time to read my plea and spread the word. Thank you.
Organizer
Linda Leek
Organizer
Florence, KY
