As many of you already now , my amazing boyfriend Mat got terribly sick at the end of our holiday here in São Paulo Brazil. One day before our flight , we went to the ER (Wed Jan 17) here. Mat had extremely low oxygen with an elevated HR.

At that time we didn’t know , but Mat’s body was experiencing septic shock. He was sent to the ICU that night and intubated. Mat is still in ICU: sedated and slowly improving, diagnosed with severe pneumonia in both lungs and the flu. I am extremely grateful for the hard work of all the medical staff here at the hospital.

Unfortunately we were not expecting anything like this to occur, and we have been out of work for almost 2 additional weeks. The added expenses for a place to stay, food expenses, and the additional flight fees to rebook have been causing additional stress and worry. The medical team believes we will be here for another week at least.

I am asking for any donations possible to alleviate some of these financial burdens so when we return to the US, I can continue to take care of Mat and not have to rush back to work. I pride myself in being a nurse and would like to focus all my work to make sure he gets better.

Thank you to everyone for the love and support you have shown us the past week. I could not be more happy with the warmth and joy you have provided us. Being here alone in São Paulo has been a challenge, but the support of our NYC family (and family elsewhere!) means everything.

Remember to always love and cherish those closest to you , because you never know how fast things can truly change. I am so fortunate that Mat is slowly improving , I love him so much