O'Connell's Mold Fund
Donation protected
When you find toxic mold in your home, you are encouraged to treat it as if your home is on fire. You’re supposed to leave everything behind. It doesn’t matter if it is where you and your husband started your life together. It doesn’t matter if it’s the place to which you brought your children home from the hospital. You have to get out. So we did.
The loss of so much and the crippling instability it has caused has made it nearly impossible to replace much of what we need to continue living.
Three years ago, my husband Steve started to not feel well. One side of his body began to grow weaker and even felt numb most of the time. Tasks as simple as walking up the steps would exhaust him. Eventually, it affected how much he could work, since his job required physical labor. Once that started to happen, he finally went to the doctor. Test after test after test and they all read “normal”. No doctor could diagnose a single problem. Yet, Steve was sick and he continued to get worse.
Around the same time, I started to have unexplainable fatigue and anxiety. However, what worried me the most was the almost permanent cold my 6- and 4-year boys were suffering from.
In July, I was cleaning our bedroom and when I moved Steve's dresser, I saw mushrooms growing out of the wall behind it. At first, I didn’t know what they meant and I didn’t realize the damage they had already done to all of our belongings and the health of my family. But, I would learn.
Right away, the apartment was tested and the mold counts were highly elevated with none other than toxic "black" mold. Within a week of the test results, our family moved out of the apartment and left 90% of our belongings and keepsakes behind us. Furniture, clothes, the new bed we just finally treated ourselves to, and even our children’s toys had to stay.
Mold can cause lasting and serious health issues and while we are looking to a future in which we overcome these obstacles, we understand it takes time. At this point, the severe financial hit along with the physical and emotional effects of this situation will take countless years for us to recover from.
Today we ask all of our friends, family, and anyone who can open their hearts to us to please donate anything you can possibly spare to help us get back on our feet.
With your help, I truly believe we can make a full recovery. Thank you so much for visiting our family’s gofundme page and may God bless you.
The loss of so much and the crippling instability it has caused has made it nearly impossible to replace much of what we need to continue living.
Three years ago, my husband Steve started to not feel well. One side of his body began to grow weaker and even felt numb most of the time. Tasks as simple as walking up the steps would exhaust him. Eventually, it affected how much he could work, since his job required physical labor. Once that started to happen, he finally went to the doctor. Test after test after test and they all read “normal”. No doctor could diagnose a single problem. Yet, Steve was sick and he continued to get worse.
Around the same time, I started to have unexplainable fatigue and anxiety. However, what worried me the most was the almost permanent cold my 6- and 4-year boys were suffering from.
In July, I was cleaning our bedroom and when I moved Steve's dresser, I saw mushrooms growing out of the wall behind it. At first, I didn’t know what they meant and I didn’t realize the damage they had already done to all of our belongings and the health of my family. But, I would learn.
Right away, the apartment was tested and the mold counts were highly elevated with none other than toxic "black" mold. Within a week of the test results, our family moved out of the apartment and left 90% of our belongings and keepsakes behind us. Furniture, clothes, the new bed we just finally treated ourselves to, and even our children’s toys had to stay.
Mold can cause lasting and serious health issues and while we are looking to a future in which we overcome these obstacles, we understand it takes time. At this point, the severe financial hit along with the physical and emotional effects of this situation will take countless years for us to recover from.
Today we ask all of our friends, family, and anyone who can open their hearts to us to please donate anything you can possibly spare to help us get back on our feet.
With your help, I truly believe we can make a full recovery. Thank you so much for visiting our family’s gofundme page and may God bless you.
Organizer
Jackie Lynch O'Connell
Organizer
Bryn Mawr, PA
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