Assi͏s͏tance for a brother in Blue
Donation protected
My name is Lauren Bauer and I am an officer near St. Louis. I am posting on behalf of our friend & brother-in-blue, Darrell Thompson.
For those of us that know Darrell, whether it be in-person or via Facebook, we can all attest to his genuine personality and desire to be there for others at all times in their lives. His dedication to not only his career in law enforcement but also to ensuring everyone around him knows that they have a friend, someone that will drop what he is doing to help or even just a colleague that stops by to say hello or give a friendly "like" on FB. Well, friends, our tried & true brother needs OUR help now!
Many of us had no idea what Darrell has been going through the past several years so I will share some of the inspiring battle: Once a full-time officer, Darrell's body forced him to part-time officer status in March 2014 after sustaining a knee injury that limited his ability to remain mobile as often as he would have liked. Part-time meant Obamacare insurance and we all know how great that coverage is (sigh). In 2015 Darrell was found to have multiple tumors and ended up needing THREE surgeries to remove the 8 uninvited guests, which took insurance 16 months to even approve. During this time, his health continued to bring him trouble and he was diagnosed with colon cancer, for which he underwent chemotherapy. Darrell underwent multiple surgeries for ulcers as well as having to have a large section of his intestine removed. Thankfully as of November 2019, Darrell is CANCER FREE!!!
As you can imagine, all of these health issues took a great mental toll on our brother but add in that his insurance was giving him the runaround and ultimately only paying for approximately HALF of the asinine medical bills, Darrell's medical bills were piling up and FAST! Through all of this, he continued to work as often as his body could muster but there was just no chance of keeping up with his vital bills and the egregious medical bills as well. His mind and soul were growing tired, migraines and stress were haunting him. On one particularly bad day Darrell commented to a coworker about his being beyond overwhelmed and the weight of it all becoming too much to bear, as we all would understand, and soon there-after he was notified that he was being placed on administrative leave pending a psychological evaluation. Now those of us in LE know just how easily our administration can throw us to the wolves with a psych if they so choose. Darrell was on paid-admin leave at first (approx 3 weeks), but by Dec. 30th, 2019, he was moved to un-paid administrative leave and given a "progressive plan" to return to work once cleared, albeit in a minimum of 4 months as the plan stipulates. Darrell now has ZERO income.
***Tell me, folks, how is someone already stressed to the max with health and financial issues supposed to magically feel that stress lessened when they are removed from the career they passion for and stripped of their means of financial survival?!***
Thankfully both Darrell's counselor and the city appointed counselor are optimistic with his progress through such a journey! However, Darrell is still drowning in hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt. Yes, you read that correctly, hundreds of thousands of dollars! The hospitals and doctors are unwilling to budge and are continuously calling for money, while our brother is trying to get his mind right to return to the career he loves and eating ramen noodles for most meals. Which mind you, is not at all conducive to keeping his health in check, he needs to be able to put more nutritional meals into his tired body. Darrell's 88yr old father, a multi-tour war veteran, relies on his son to take care of him at their home and needs a strong healthy son!
Friends, brothers & sisters, I ask that you consider helping our warrior out at this time. Financially if you are at all able, every little bit adds up! If that is not an option for you, prayers for him and strength for his journey would be incredible. Please also send Darrell a show of support, let him know he is cared about and supported! I know first-hand that he would do so for you!
---If you have any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them for you within reason. I can be reached at [email redacted]---
For those of us that know Darrell, whether it be in-person or via Facebook, we can all attest to his genuine personality and desire to be there for others at all times in their lives. His dedication to not only his career in law enforcement but also to ensuring everyone around him knows that they have a friend, someone that will drop what he is doing to help or even just a colleague that stops by to say hello or give a friendly "like" on FB. Well, friends, our tried & true brother needs OUR help now!
Many of us had no idea what Darrell has been going through the past several years so I will share some of the inspiring battle: Once a full-time officer, Darrell's body forced him to part-time officer status in March 2014 after sustaining a knee injury that limited his ability to remain mobile as often as he would have liked. Part-time meant Obamacare insurance and we all know how great that coverage is (sigh). In 2015 Darrell was found to have multiple tumors and ended up needing THREE surgeries to remove the 8 uninvited guests, which took insurance 16 months to even approve. During this time, his health continued to bring him trouble and he was diagnosed with colon cancer, for which he underwent chemotherapy. Darrell underwent multiple surgeries for ulcers as well as having to have a large section of his intestine removed. Thankfully as of November 2019, Darrell is CANCER FREE!!!
As you can imagine, all of these health issues took a great mental toll on our brother but add in that his insurance was giving him the runaround and ultimately only paying for approximately HALF of the asinine medical bills, Darrell's medical bills were piling up and FAST! Through all of this, he continued to work as often as his body could muster but there was just no chance of keeping up with his vital bills and the egregious medical bills as well. His mind and soul were growing tired, migraines and stress were haunting him. On one particularly bad day Darrell commented to a coworker about his being beyond overwhelmed and the weight of it all becoming too much to bear, as we all would understand, and soon there-after he was notified that he was being placed on administrative leave pending a psychological evaluation. Now those of us in LE know just how easily our administration can throw us to the wolves with a psych if they so choose. Darrell was on paid-admin leave at first (approx 3 weeks), but by Dec. 30th, 2019, he was moved to un-paid administrative leave and given a "progressive plan" to return to work once cleared, albeit in a minimum of 4 months as the plan stipulates. Darrell now has ZERO income.
***Tell me, folks, how is someone already stressed to the max with health and financial issues supposed to magically feel that stress lessened when they are removed from the career they passion for and stripped of their means of financial survival?!***
Thankfully both Darrell's counselor and the city appointed counselor are optimistic with his progress through such a journey! However, Darrell is still drowning in hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt. Yes, you read that correctly, hundreds of thousands of dollars! The hospitals and doctors are unwilling to budge and are continuously calling for money, while our brother is trying to get his mind right to return to the career he loves and eating ramen noodles for most meals. Which mind you, is not at all conducive to keeping his health in check, he needs to be able to put more nutritional meals into his tired body. Darrell's 88yr old father, a multi-tour war veteran, relies on his son to take care of him at their home and needs a strong healthy son!
Friends, brothers & sisters, I ask that you consider helping our warrior out at this time. Financially if you are at all able, every little bit adds up! If that is not an option for you, prayers for him and strength for his journey would be incredible. Please also send Darrell a show of support, let him know he is cared about and supported! I know first-hand that he would do so for you!
---If you have any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them for you within reason. I can be reached at [email redacted]---
Organizer
Darrell Thompson
Organizer
Bostwick, FL
