Hi, my name is Mariah Runolfson. I am 22 years old. I am raising money to help pay for my medical bills.

The last couple of months have been a dream, to say the least. We were able to buy our first home, get married, and go on the honeymoon of our dreams. Then, on the 21st of October, that dream quickly turned into a nightmare.

At 9:30 pm, I was rushed to the hospital due to a sudden stroke. The doctors soon life-flighted me to the University of Utah Hospital, where I underwent a lot of testing to determine the cause. A day later, they were able to determine the cause: a hole in my heart, which formed a blood clot that went up to my brain. I am now at a higher risk of having more strokes as I go into my future. In order to lower the risk, I must undergo heart surgery to close the hole. Until we are able to afford surgery I am prescribed blood thinners to hopefully avoid any future blood clots.

The stroke affected the part of my brain which creates language, and I am still practicing getting my speech back. I may need speech therapy in order to fully regain my ability to communicate.

To top it all off we were working on switching over my insurance to my husband's insurance and we missed the deadline by 2 days. So this hospital visit was not covered by insurance. My loving husband is working really hard to keep us from drowning in bills. We have a 1-year-old baby girl that we need to take care of as well. Anything would help.