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<div>As a healthcare worker, and member of a Critical Care Transport Team. I’ve seen firsthand the emotional and financial toll that a critical illness can take on a family. But nothing fully prepares you when it’s your own.
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<div>My cousin Rod is currently in the fight of his life. He’s 49 years old, a devoted husband to Whitney, and a loving father to four wonderful children—one in college, one graduating high school this year, and two younger ones still at home. Rod has quietly battled a debilitating chronic illness for much of his life. His very advanced case of Ankylosing Spondylitis has required him to endure multiple spinal surgeries since his 20’s as well as the placement of a pacemaker several years ago.
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<div>In March, he caught a virus. By early April, when he hadn’t improved, Whitney brought him to the hospital—thankfully. Rod was in full kidney failure and septic. A staph infection was spreading throughout his entire body. The staph infection was in his spine, kidneys, liver, lungs and all his joints as well as his heart. He had a very specialized procedure to vacuum out the infection from his heart. He fought through dangerously low blood pressure, multiple heart blocks, and ultimately needed heart surgery to replace his infected pacemaker. He developed pneumonia, lost function in his left arm, and has faced extreme physical setbacks.
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<div>Despite all of this, by the grace of God, Rod now knows who he is, where he is, and why he’s there. That alone is a miracle. But the road ahead is long. Each day brings new challenges, and the infection continues to move throughout his body. Long-term rehab is necessary, and recovery will be slow and difficult.
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<div>This GoFundMe has been created on their behalf, not just because I love them deeply, but because I know from experience how overwhelming the burden can become. Whitney has been by his side every step of the way, traveling away from home to be there for his care in other cities—including emergency air medical transport and transfer to a facility capable of managing his complex heart needs. He spent nearly a month in ICU, and there are still many steps ahead before stability returns.
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<div>They are facing mounting medical bills, loss of income, travel expenses, and the daily costs of simply holding everything together for their children.
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<div>So many people have reached out, asking how they can help. This is how. If you’re able to donate, every bit helps ease the weight on Rod and Whitney’s shoulders. If you can’t give financially, please consider leaving an uplifting message or saying a prayer. Both are just as powerful.
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<div>Rod is still fighting. And so are we.
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<div>Thank you for being part of our village. Your love, support, and generosity mean more than words can express.
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Dana & Jana Smidt

Carri Gregory

Sharon Thomson

Anonymous

Vckie May

Christopher Serur

Chandra McInroe

Cesar Sanchez

Sean Casey

Molly Smith

Dustin Raye

Bryce Cole

Support for Rod’s Fight and His Family’s Journey

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Support for Rod’s Fight and His Family’s Journey

Still $6,750 to go. Help us build momentum.