Help Christy
Donation protected
My name is Art Barton, and I pastor a small, country Baptist church in rural Michigan. My family and I are longtime friends of the family that are in the predicament I am about to describe.
Back in 1983, a young girl by the name of Christy Melton was a Bible college student in Southern California. She was engaged to a young man named Craigan who was also a Bible college student. Craigan's parents were not Christians, and Christy and Craigan prayed for them fervently. They prayed that the Lord would do whatever it took for his parents to be saved.
One day Christy and Craigan and some other students were in a car in Fullerton, California, when the car they were riding in was struck by a fire truck that had run a red light. Craigan was killed instantly. Christy's back was broken in three places, and she had many other injuries, including significant brain damage. She was in a coma for several months, and after she came out of it, she was, for all practical purposes, a four year old, as well as being a paraplegic. She was paralyzed for life from the waist down. It took a year for her to learn to talk again, and it took about five years for her to be rehabilitated enough to read and write and use her hands to take care of her own basic needs.
A few months after Craigan's death, his parents were both saved. Craigan's and Christy's prayers were answered, but certainly not in the way that they had envisioned.
That accident began many years of struggle and hardship for Christy, as you can well imagine.
Now to fast forward to May 2019. Lightning struck again in the same place. Christy was driving on Hwy. 49 in Grass Valley, California, when she was hit by a Freightliner semi truck. Her car (modified so it could be driven by a paraplegic) was destroyed, and Christy had a broken neck. It was broken so badly that the attending doctor was stunned that she was even alive; so much so that he called it a miracle. He said that there was virtually nothing but skin and muscles keeping her head attached to her neck. She had a very involved and complicated surgery to piece her neck back together.
Christy is now in a nursing home. She has lost most of the mobility that she had in her arms and hands, and it looks as though she won't be able to be go back home for quite a while, if at all.
Christy's parents, Ken and Wendy Melton, are doing what they can for her, but they are completely overwhelmed by all this. They cared for her for years after her first accident, but they were much younger then. They are getting up in years, and they both have some health issues of their own that are becoming serious. Christy is divorced and has full custody of her 14 year old son.
After Christy's first accident, she received a significant insurance settlement that pays her an income for life. Through the years, she has been very generous with her money, and has helped many other people with it. However, because of her generosity and vulnerability, she has also been exploited a number of times by some rather ruthless and opportunistic characters. That, coupled with her present everyday living expenses (California has a high cost of living) and medical bills that are approaching astronomical, and she is now virtually out of money. She had very little health insurance, and the insurance she did have was very expensive in comparison to the coverage that actually went with it.
Her insurance is due to run out on or about the 5th of August. To be able to stay at the nursing home, she will have to start paying anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 dollars per month, depending on the type of room and services that she needs. This doesn't include her other financial responsibilities: raising a son, a house payment, all the expenses associated with home ownership, plus no end in sight to further medical costs, prescriptions, rehabilitation, and so forth. Ken and Wendy have very little income of their own, and have been living with Christy and her son Sammy to help take care of them both. They simply can't take Christy home if she needs 24/7 type care. They desperately need her to be able to stay in that nursing home and recuperate, if at all possible.
The idea behind this GoFundMe page is to buy them some time, so to speak. If Christy can stay in the nursing home at least for a couple of months, the Meltons are hoping that she can make enough progress to be able to move back to her house. They have no other family members in the area, so they have no real support group in place locally. So, their support group is going to be anyone out there reading this who might be led to help out financially. That is their biggest need right at the moment.
"Crunch time" comes in less than two weeks----they are going to require some funds very soon to be able to keep Christy in the nursing home and cared for. The initial goal has been set at 7,000 dollars, which would only take care of about the first month for Christy's stay in the home. GoFundMe recommends a goal of 1,000 dollars to start, but that wouldn't go very far. It would be a big blessing to Christy and her family if the 7,000 could even be revised upwards later on, but that remains to be seen.
These folks have been serving the Lord faithfully for many years, and have helped out a lot of Christians along the way, myself and my family included. On behalf of Christy, Ken, Wendy, and Sammy----thank you to anyone who can help them in what is a real crisis of need.
Back in 1983, a young girl by the name of Christy Melton was a Bible college student in Southern California. She was engaged to a young man named Craigan who was also a Bible college student. Craigan's parents were not Christians, and Christy and Craigan prayed for them fervently. They prayed that the Lord would do whatever it took for his parents to be saved.
One day Christy and Craigan and some other students were in a car in Fullerton, California, when the car they were riding in was struck by a fire truck that had run a red light. Craigan was killed instantly. Christy's back was broken in three places, and she had many other injuries, including significant brain damage. She was in a coma for several months, and after she came out of it, she was, for all practical purposes, a four year old, as well as being a paraplegic. She was paralyzed for life from the waist down. It took a year for her to learn to talk again, and it took about five years for her to be rehabilitated enough to read and write and use her hands to take care of her own basic needs.
A few months after Craigan's death, his parents were both saved. Craigan's and Christy's prayers were answered, but certainly not in the way that they had envisioned.
That accident began many years of struggle and hardship for Christy, as you can well imagine.
Now to fast forward to May 2019. Lightning struck again in the same place. Christy was driving on Hwy. 49 in Grass Valley, California, when she was hit by a Freightliner semi truck. Her car (modified so it could be driven by a paraplegic) was destroyed, and Christy had a broken neck. It was broken so badly that the attending doctor was stunned that she was even alive; so much so that he called it a miracle. He said that there was virtually nothing but skin and muscles keeping her head attached to her neck. She had a very involved and complicated surgery to piece her neck back together.
Christy is now in a nursing home. She has lost most of the mobility that she had in her arms and hands, and it looks as though she won't be able to be go back home for quite a while, if at all.
Christy's parents, Ken and Wendy Melton, are doing what they can for her, but they are completely overwhelmed by all this. They cared for her for years after her first accident, but they were much younger then. They are getting up in years, and they both have some health issues of their own that are becoming serious. Christy is divorced and has full custody of her 14 year old son.
After Christy's first accident, she received a significant insurance settlement that pays her an income for life. Through the years, she has been very generous with her money, and has helped many other people with it. However, because of her generosity and vulnerability, she has also been exploited a number of times by some rather ruthless and opportunistic characters. That, coupled with her present everyday living expenses (California has a high cost of living) and medical bills that are approaching astronomical, and she is now virtually out of money. She had very little health insurance, and the insurance she did have was very expensive in comparison to the coverage that actually went with it.
Her insurance is due to run out on or about the 5th of August. To be able to stay at the nursing home, she will have to start paying anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 dollars per month, depending on the type of room and services that she needs. This doesn't include her other financial responsibilities: raising a son, a house payment, all the expenses associated with home ownership, plus no end in sight to further medical costs, prescriptions, rehabilitation, and so forth. Ken and Wendy have very little income of their own, and have been living with Christy and her son Sammy to help take care of them both. They simply can't take Christy home if she needs 24/7 type care. They desperately need her to be able to stay in that nursing home and recuperate, if at all possible.
The idea behind this GoFundMe page is to buy them some time, so to speak. If Christy can stay in the nursing home at least for a couple of months, the Meltons are hoping that she can make enough progress to be able to move back to her house. They have no other family members in the area, so they have no real support group in place locally. So, their support group is going to be anyone out there reading this who might be led to help out financially. That is their biggest need right at the moment.
"Crunch time" comes in less than two weeks----they are going to require some funds very soon to be able to keep Christy in the nursing home and cared for. The initial goal has been set at 7,000 dollars, which would only take care of about the first month for Christy's stay in the home. GoFundMe recommends a goal of 1,000 dollars to start, but that wouldn't go very far. It would be a big blessing to Christy and her family if the 7,000 could even be revised upwards later on, but that remains to be seen.
These folks have been serving the Lord faithfully for many years, and have helped out a lot of Christians along the way, myself and my family included. On behalf of Christy, Ken, Wendy, and Sammy----thank you to anyone who can help them in what is a real crisis of need.
Organizer
ArtandKristi Barton
Organizer
Ashland, MI