Help A Wonderful Man - Joe Knott

The goal
To show kindness and generosity to Someone who shows others, nothing but that. 

Let me tell you about a guy named Joe.  A couple of years ago he met my sister Laura.  A bit older than her, they hit it off immediately and began to date.  Joe was introduced to our family shortly after and we were quickly impressed.  Laura, with a tumultuous history of her own,  had found a man so sincerely genuine and simple and absolutely lovely. He's the kind of person who you can't help but be happy around because he is all that is good, with a heart the size of his once imposing frame.  Orphaned at a young age by the death of his mother and abandonment by his father he and his two siblings grew up between foster homes, witnessing things no-one should, and coming out stronger and nicer on the other side.  The circumstances surrounding his upbringing would've made bitter and hardened most anyone else.  Joe allowed it to strengthen him, never losing his kind, wonderful way.

Eventually, Joe and Laura were engaged to be married.  A few months before the actual wedding, Joe began having intestinal pain.  This led to a journey of months in and out of the hospital and nursing homes.  Between misdiagnosis and poor care, his condition steadily deteriorated. The final diagnosis came after months of back and forth.  Late stage, metastasized liver cancer.  He fought and despite the frail state his intestinal issues had left him in and the lack of more standard treatments based on his body's inability to withstand them, he showed signs of improvement.  Until recently.  He was on a natural remedy protocol, with hopes of reigniting his immune system in an effort to fight off his cancer.  But his status has worsened and he is need of a stronger effort.

We recently had Joe and Laura's wedding inside a beautiful church in New Haven, Connecticut. Months after originally planned, he was barely able to attend his own wedding, relying heavily on a walker and hardly able to talk.  He always wanted to have a wife and be part of a big family.  Between Laura and her seven brothers and sisters, he finally is. 

I've got to be honest, to me, it looked like the end.  But Joe is the kind of person you never want to give up on.  What's happening to him hurts. Not only he, but we who are losing him.  I know many of you can relate.

The Plan:
I hate to let my new brother go without doing everything we could think of.  So, as what may be the final effort, I am trying to raise $5,000 to send Joe to a facility in Kansas, specializing in IVC treatments.  Currently one of the very few options opened to him based on his physical state, intensive IVC therapy shows promise and is worth the effort.  Unfortunately, since it remains a non-conventional treatment, it is not covered by his insurance.  Joe is the kind of person who would never ask, but if he had, would always give.  With your help, I would love to try and give back to him. The world would be less without his kindness and I am turning to you to help keep him around,  for those who know him and all others who have yet to meet him.  Any and all help would be appreciated.  If you cannot help financially, thoughts and prayers are also incredibly helpful.  Thank you for listening.  And as for the struggles you too are experiencing, our thoughts are with you.