Stand With Jessica in Her Time of Need

Hi everyone,

I’m reaching out with a heartfelt request to support my sister, Jessica, as she is going through one of the hardest times in her life.

In the process of Jessica & Brad trying to make their marriage work, COVID occurred, and Jessica had to leave her job to care for Parker due to the closing of school and allowing him to be homeschooled for the next 2 years due to his health risks. This, in return, caused more stress and hostility in the home, which ultimately resulted in them deciding to end their marriage. However, they agreed to continue to live together to co-parent Parker while Jessica worked on getting back on her feet. As she had finally reached the point of getting a job with UnityPoint Hospice, things were getting back on track and finally back to normal. She has been at that job for over a year; however, she was advised that she was going to be laid off from her job effective December 6th, 2024.

However, the night that changed everything forever was November 15, 2024. Parker woke up Jessica and said he was having an asthma attack. She got out of bed, went to wake up Brad, and when they got to Parker, he had stopped breathing. Jessica did CPR until paramedics arrived, and he was taken to MercyOne. Unfortunately, they were unable to get his pulse back. Jessica said, “time stood still.” The unimaginable had happened.

We had Parker's funeral on November 22, 2024. All the regular “funeral stuff” happened, then Jessica rented out Get Air (a local trampoline park) because Parker loved Get Air, but due to his severe asthma, he never truly got to enjoy it. The entire 6th-grade class was invited, and everyone was able to celebrate Parker in a way that's much less "depressing" than a funeral. Parker would have LOVED this!

Jessica has had an insanely hard year, but after losing her sweet, amazing boy, she asked, “what else could go wrong?” Well, the universe laughed. While at Get Air, our niece Ellery asked Jessica and myself to climb a rock wall and jump off. Of course, because we were on a roll and in full kid mode, we took on the challenge. When Jessica jumped off the rock wall (which was 15ft high), she hit the bottom of the foam pit and hurt herself badly. However, she tried to brush it off and push through the rest of the event.

After the event, Jessica stopped by a friend's house and they had dinner. When she laid down, she realized something more was going on. She called her friend, who is an EMT, to ask for some advice, and after explaining what happened, her friend advised her to call 911 immediately. I (her sister, Kayla) met Jessica at the hospital, and after plenty of wait time, the doctor ordered an X-ray that showed that she had a fractured L1 vertebrae. The doctors gave her some Tylenol and slapped some lidocaine patches on, then sent her on her way.

Tuesday, Jessica was in a lot more pain and struggling to function. She was falling, couldn’t speak well, and was having other cognitive concerns. She drove herself to the ER, where I met her, and thank God, she got a wonderful doctor who ordered a CT scan right away and immediately tried to tackle her pain. Once the CT scan came back, he advised us that it was much worse than we thought. After consulting with the University of Iowa, an MRI was recommended immediately, but unfortunately, there were no available technicians to come in.

As it sits right now, this is what we know. Jessica has 3 spinal fractures: a burst fracture in her L1 with a fragment of the vertebrae extending approximately 4mm into her vertebral canal and 2 acute depressed fractures on her T11 and T12 vertebrae.

She will need an MRI and possibly surgery. She was hoping to finish out her last few weeks at work, but the doctor has said no. Therefore, she won't be able to work until we find out exactly what is going on and what she needs.

Brad has made the decision that since Parker has passed, he will no longer support Jessica in any way, shape, or form. He said he would like her out of their apartment in 30 days. Since her name is also on the lease, he wouldn't be able to kick her out, but he can leave, and she'd be responsible immediately for the rent that is almost 1k in a space way bigger than she needs.

Ideally, Jessica would like to move into a studio apartment, take time to heal, and immediately begin job hunting when the approval is given by the doctors. You can't sign a lease without a job or other proof of income. So the goal is that someone would let her sign a lease if she could pay the full year upfront. This would not only give her the freedom to physically heal but also to mentally heal and grieve Parker.

Although I am Jessica's sister, unfortunately, I never got the chance to meet Parker because we got a late start getting to know each other. But everything I've been told by EVERYONE these past few weeks is that Parker was a sweet, kind kid who wore his heart on his sleeve just like his mom. And he would HATE to see what's happening to his mom.

Jessica hates asking for help, especially because she thinks that this is overshadowing Parker's death. It took myself and multiple others begging to allow us to write this.

If you're unable to donate, simply sharing this would mean the world to us.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity—it means so much to my family and me. Together, we can help Jessica get through this.

With love,

Kayla