Bring John Back to Life

INCREDIBLE UPDATE! Through unbelievable generosity and an unexpected discount from the doctor, we now have enough funds for John's treatment and travel costs! Our family is blown away and filled with HOPE.

If anyone is still wanting to donate, further contributions will go toward outstanding bills from John's 2022 treatment and any unexpected or tertiary expenses needed for his recovery.

John has his treatment scheduled in May! Our family is humbled and beyond grateful for the love shown during this fundraiser. We truly thank the Lord for each one of you.

[Original story follows]

We are raising money for a critical medical treatment for our dad, John Ellenberger. He was unknowingly exposed to toxic environments which wreaked havoc on his body and brain, leaving him with extremely diminished mental, emotional, and physical abilities, much like a stroke or TBI victim. The good news is that there is a treatment proven to bring him back to his former sharp, energetic self! Please consider contributing! Here is his story...

It’s been a year since John saw any of his six children or ten grandchildren. He has two grandchildren he’s never met. He is unable to work or continue developing the technology that has earned him five patents. He can’t do everyday things like go to coffee with friends or take hikes with his wife Linda.

Why? John was injured three times: once in 2019 and twice in 2024. John and Linda spent everything needed for medical treatment after the first injury, and it worked! In 2023 John was restored to his family and friends, and he threw himself back into work on his innovative technology designed to help the world’s poor and under-served. But just one year later, he suffered two more toxic injuries…and paying for another treatment is completely out of reach.

In 2019, John suffered his first debilitating brain injury. Massive amounts of odorless chemicals outgassed from the floor in the office he rented, poisoning his brain and body with every breath he took.

The once-vibrant, sharp-as-a-tack, playful, perfectly-healthy man was reduced to huddling alone on a couch. He endured intense headaches and relentless lethargy. He looked at his patents and no longer understood them. He could no longer be physically touched, go anywhere with noise, laugh at jokes, or think of words in a conversation. The very building blocks of John’s body—his cells—were damaged in ways that infected every area of his life.

Our family lost the man we knew.

John and his wife Linda could not accept that John was doomed to live isolated in a dark room for the rest of his life, so they aggressively sought treatment options. Unfortunately, none of those options were covered under insurance. Through legal action against the office building’s landlord, John received a judgment in his favor, but it only provided a small portion of the funds necessary for his treatment. John and Linda committed to paying whatever it took to restore him to full health.

Top medical experts in brain and cell function prescribed personalized brain and body treatments, requiring John to make recovery his new full-time job. From 2019-2021, John endured hundreds of hours lying in a hyperbaric chamber, hundreds of hours receiving IV infusions, thousands of hours doing state-of-the-art brain training (EEG biofeedback), and thousands of hours doing detox and physical therapies.

Through this expensive treatment and all his hard work, John was able to do a couple of hours of engineering work a day, but he still had trouble speaking and being with people.

Then in mid 2022, a miracle happened!

Linda found a doctor in southern California who could provide cell-regenerative IV therapy exactly targeting John’s type of injury. John and Linda maxed out their credit cards and started two weeks of these daily therapies.

On the fourth day of therapy, John’s brain turned back on.

All of a sudden he felt emotion again.

All of a sudden he understood his five patents.

By 2023 John had regained his ability to converse, laugh, work, and be in public places! He wrote 11,000 lines of software code in a matter of weeks, and most importantly, reconnected with his family through regular conversation. Christmas—the first holiday together since 2018—was so joyful!

However, John had to be very cautious about being further exposed to any environmental toxins, as his body’s ability to protect itself was still compromised.

But after only one year of renewed health, John began struggling to concentrate on work again. A morning conversation would tire him for the rest of the day. John and Linda scrambled to uncover why the dreadful symptoms of 2019 were repeating. It wasn’t John’s diet. Or exercise. Or bad air at home. Or any materials he was handling.

With a slow dawning of horror, they realized that through their weekly attendance at a community organization, John’s brain was being slowly re-injured by the use of improperly-managed fog machines and inadequate ventilation.

The organization would not make changes or accept any responsibility, forcing John and Linda to stop attending. Symptoms slightly lessened, and John and Linda renewed efforts at home to help his brain and body heal.

Again.

John began gradually climbing out of the hole, but it was clear he had suffered a significant setback from ongoing exposure to environmental toxins. Yet again.

And the nightmare wasn’t over.

In April of 2024, John and Linda found a new community location to attend, but since this organization also used a fog machine, John was immediately proactive, meeting with staff to address potential dangers and verify that industry safety standards were being followed to prevent toxin buildup in the indoor air. John was even shown the organization’s ventilation protocols. Confident the building was safe, John and Linda still limited exposure as much as possible by staying as far away from the fog machine as possible.

During the summer of 2024, John’s health continued to improve, slowly but surely. But in the fall, symptoms worsened. By November, John could no longer work. Or laugh. Or have a conversation. Frantic, John and Linda met again with the community organization’s staff to see if anything had changed with the fog machines.

Turns out, in the cooler months, the location did not run the ventilation that protected people from toxic exposure.

John had been injured. A third time. And by this time, the damage was too extensive to treat at home.

Our family lost the man we knew.

A third time.

And now, having sold every item of value they owned, there’s nothing left to pay for the treatment. After fighting for John’s life for six years, Linda now works 12-hour days just to keep them afloat.

The treatment our dad received after his 2019 injury was effective! He has already consulted with the southern California doctor and been assured he can heal again.

Imagine…our dad could meet his baby grandson! He could joke with friends and go to family holidays! He could earn an income, continue his meaningful engineering work, and enjoy dates with Linda!

So we come to you and ask that if your heart is moved, please consider helping our family get John back. We know the amount needed is enormous…but with your help—whether through any size donation, or through sharing this story with others—John Ellenberger can return to the man he longs to be. For all of us.

In deepest gratitude,

Rachel Ellenberger McGehee