<div>Hello! My name is Gary and I started this fundraiser to help raise financial assistance to my dearest friend Kathryn in her journey to restore vision in her left eye after a failed corns transplant in February at Duke University Hospital. Kathryn actually had near perfect vision before this point. She had never even worn reading glasses before. In early February, Kathryn’s major organs were slowly shutting down internally due to her hypothyroidism. Her body stopped functioning properly and she was no longer able to breakdown her medication for her thyroid disease, thus was unable to absorb it.
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<div>Help this woman to live out loud again and to discover what amazing accomplishments can be achieved despite having lost 75% of her vision. She is an inspiration to everyone who knows her and has always been loved by everyone for her humility, compassion, and kindness. But now she is the one in need of assistance and I’m calling on all the people who have ever received a blessing to come together to show their gratitude for the unconditional and limitless acts of kindness the world around us has been blessed with simply because of this woman’s dedication to improve the lives of others that were almost forgotten had she not come answering their prayers. It is now a time to pay it forward and to give back to one of the most generous and deserving people I have had the privilege of knowing and calling my friend. 
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<div>By all accounts Kathryn Martin is a medical mystery and a miracle to the field of medical science according to the medical staff at Duke University hospital in Durham, North Carolina. Kathryn was the recipient of a weight loss surgery in 2021 that resulted in her losing too much weight and becoming vitamin deficient. She was around 340lbs at the time of her weight loss procedure and today weighs less than 140lbs, which is extremely dangerous with her 5’7” broad frame. She was admitted to Duke medical hospital in January as a result of her major organs shutting down and her body’s inability to breakdown and absorb her medication prescribed for hypothyroidism. She became lethargic and ceased communication with everyone in a matter of days with no warning or explanation of any kind. Kathryn had slipped into a trance like comatose state and was unable to express any emotion or physical pain that she was experiencing. She was in an altered state of consciousness and for those around her, she was inaccessible and beyond their reach when trying to understand what was happening to her and how to communicate her urgent need for medical attention immediately.
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<div>By the time Kathryn was taken to Wesley Long hospital and transported to Duke University hospital, she was suffering from an extreme case of the potentially deadly illness sepsis, which had spread throughout her body and demanded she be admitted to ICU immediately.
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<div>When the doctors completed bloodwork and physical examinations to determine exactly what was causing her body to begin shutting down, they announced to her family that she had a 10% of survival at best and that they would need to perform an experimental procedure on her left eye to try to save her eyesight. They performed a cornmeal transplant surgery in hopes of preventing further damage and to restore her vision to its prior state. Unfortunately the surgery was not successful and Kathryn’s body rejected the transplant. Three weeks later she woke to learn of her entire ordeal and of her permanent blindness in her left eye and the possibility of losing her sight in the other eye ultimately. 
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<div>Kathryn is now back home after her 6 weeks in the hospital and had to relearn how to communicate, walk, coordinate, and manage with complete In activities of daily living. Kathryn is not married and never had children of her own. Her parents were forced to relocate to the coast for reasons unrelated to Kathryn’s health. 
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<div>Today Kathryn is still waiting for her application for Medicaid to be approved, she is disabled and unable to work, has no savings for her living expenses or medical bills, and is in need of another surgery to remove her left eyeball and possibly be the recipient of a prosthetic eye in the near future. 
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<div>However, she is unable to receive disability at the present time due to the time requirement for applying and waiting for the paperwork to be processed and submitted by the attorneys and then be approved by the court and potentially granted monthly benefits for her disability in the future. Her electricity and water is scheduled to be disconnected this month and she has no means of getting the funds required to secure her utilities remain on. She is in dire straits and needs a miracle. I think that if everyone who learns of her story and about her dedication to to helping others join forces and donate whatever amount they can afford, then together we can make sure Kathryn is not forced out of her home and can hopefully raise enough donations to meet medical expenses and provide for her to receive her surgery and the prosthetic eye she so desperately needs. 
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<div>Please help me make this miracle happen! I’m calling on all you Angels out there to help make a difference in this woman’s life because she is absolutely deserving of the blessings ! And she will make sure she pays it forward as well!!! 
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<div>Thank you so much for your time and consideration for her anything you can give is appreciated! 
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<div>God Bless!!
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<div>Background and more info about this hero:)
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<div>Kathryn is the most beautiful person I know and has a deep understanding and respect for those around her in every environment and place in society. She is one of the kindest and compassionate people I have ever had the pleasure to know and I’m so proud to call her my friend. She has always been a great contributor to the community through her career in social work and her daily life as a natural leader and advocate for those less fortunate than her self in society. She has often described her life as being a beautiful blessing that began the moment she was born into a loving family with whom always loved each other and accepted each other unconditionally. She would often describe herself to be the luckiest person she knew mostly due to her having the best role models for parents who taught her how to give and receive respect and love based upon how they treated one another. She would express a deep understanding of the human connection and effect on others that contributed greatly to her determination to treat others with respect and love simply because of her wanting to be an example of how she believed Christ advocates for in the bible. Kathryn would often have the most powerful influence on the world by modeling gestures of affection and willingness to empathize and sympathize with others solely because they were gods children and deserved to be treated equally in society and embraced all groups of people who were different from her own naturally with grace and ease. 
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<div>Kathryn Blair Martin is a person I’m proud and blessed to call my friend. She has always been an inspiration to so many people who have had the privilege of knowing her through the years. She is a native to Greensboro, NC where she resides today. Kathryn dedicated her life to helping people who were far-less fortunate than she was in her youth and would become an advocate for those persons in society who were struggling with meeting the needs and demands of daily living through various forms of volunteer services and ultimately establishing a career path in School that allowed her to provide direct assistance to children and adults who were living with physical and mental disabilities. Kathryn absolutely loved her work with these clients and always had the keen insight to utilize macro resources as well as micro tools to help her clients establish a more independent and confident stance in their lives, hence she had a unique ability to reach people where they were and encourage them to spread their wings and soar. She would also work with youth who were at risk of being removed from their homes due to court orders and would provide direct care to them and their guardians to preserve family unity, graduate school, remain substance and alcohol free, and find ways to safely terminate gang relations. Kathryn was a fantastic example of a professional Social Worker who literally made it her objective in life to help save lives and reunite families with a fresh perspective and new appreciation for each other. 
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<div>Kathryn completed her undergraduate degree at Unc at Greensboro and earned her master’s degree in social work at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. She completed her graduate work in an advanced standing program, which she graduated from with a 4.2 GPA. Kathryn was extremely humble about her intelligence and incredible school career. She never allowed herself to become arrogant about her success in school because as she stated, she felt she was the blessed one who was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to be part of something so much bigger and of emended importance to the community. She was grateful for the experience and gifts it provided her to better understand her clients in the future whom she would one day come to know and praise for their mere strength and courage to receive and participate in therapy and counseling with her. She often expressed herself as much of a student of her clients, thus experiencing a reciprocal relationship of learning, sharing, and analyzing together. 
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<div>Thank you again for taking time to learn about my most beloved friend! Please help her with anything you can afford to donate!
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<div>God Bless!
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Calling all Angels to help give back to an Angel among us!

Calling all Angels to help give back to an Angel among us!

Still $10,079 to go. Help us build momentum.