"Has anyone told you that they love you today?" - a question that countless people have been asked over the years by Ken Watts....

As many of you know, Ken has been struggling with his health for over a year now. His latest battle has been to keep his heart from failing again and to fight off the 2 deadly bacterial infections that he contracted at the hospital.

As most of you know, Ken has not been able to work for well over a year. During that time, his beloved Lowcountry Jewelers store in Pawleys closed. A new business was created and part of his staff moved into a new location after a 3 month closure during renovation. The new store is managing to pay its bills but the reality is that Ken was the lifeblood of the store and people came to see him and work their deals with him personally.

For over 3 decades, Ken has been the one helping everyone else in the community with a big smile and a ton of love. He has always been ready to sponsor the little league team; buy the cookies; and purchase the ads on the Tshirts. Everyone knows that ken will make donations to every local charitable cause that crosses his path. He has cooked for funerals; sponsored festivals & charities, and donated hundreds of thousands to silent auctions. He is always the first in line to give assistance and money to those in need; give loans to people with no expectations of being paid back; and has even purchased cemetery plots for several friends who did not have a place to be buried. His generosity knows no boundaries and has been endless with no rivals.

It is OUR turn to offer a helping hand to this gentle giant of a man. He needs his community to rally around him and help him have a fighting chance for recovery.

The injuries he has sustained over the past 4 months have now left him paralyzed from the waist down. He is in great pain and he remains hospitalized. It is a miracle he is still alive after the latest infections.

Ken has finally said YES to allowing a Gofundme to be set up on his behalf.

Some of his most pressing immediate financial needs are:

1. Ken's outstanding medical bills now total over $50,000 as of march, 2026, with additional charges already in collections. Ken needs extensive hospital care for several more months, which will be followed by time in a rehabilitation center and then will require home health assistance until he can either fully learn to be independent in a wheelchair or learn to walk again. $80,000 is a low-ball estimate of what he needs at this time.

2. He must have a handicap / wheelchair accessible van for transportation. His F250 is not a safe option. Ambulance transport has averaged $1500 per round trip to his doctors in Charleston. He needs a wheelchair-accessible transport van that is reliable and can accommodate his medical needs. We have found several used vans in the $45k -$55k range that have 75k+ miles.

3. His home requires updates and renovations to become handicap accessible. He will need either a new stair chair lift system, assuming he will improve enough to transfer from a wheelchair to the chairlift - or - more likely, an elevator installed in order to allow him access to his bedroom and upstairs areas. He also needs at least one bathroom that will allow wheelchair shower use. We estimate at least $75,000 will likely need to be raised to bring his home to a longterm viable environment.

4. Once he is out of hospital care, his medications may return to their previous out-of-pocket costs which were over $7500.00 per month (his cost). We have no way to estimate those costs other than past history which will easily total $80k per year just in medication.

5. He will need a comfortable wheelchair as a result of these back surgeries as well as a hospital bed that is actually comfortable. We estimate those will likely cost $15k +

His immediate needs exceed $305,000 at this time and those are the bare minimum.

Please consider making a donation to Ken's Gofundme. It's our turn to say

"Has anybody told you that they love you today? Cause I do"

Big Love ❤️

Aprile for Ken