Craig & Liz Robbins NEED OUR HELP
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Craig & Liz Robbins NEED OUR HELP
Craig Robbins, and his wife Liz (married 21 years!), need our help. A brain tumor removed in 2010, and subsequent brain bleeds in May and June 2020, have left Craig incapacitated. If you know them, you know they wouldn’t ask unless their situation was desperate. If you don’t know them, they are the definition of a kind, giving couple.
This takes only a few minutes to read. I hope you can take that short time to read about this campaign now.
The Backstory:
Craig asked me to create this campaign on his behalf. Craig and I met in 7th grade and quickly became best of friends. Fast forward 34 (!) years, and here we are. I’m back in Buffalo, and Craig and Liz are in Arizona.
In 2010, I was working in Singapore (like, almost the exact opposite side of the world) when I heard about Craig’s tumor (described below), and I’ll never forget how helpless I felt then because I wasn’t able to get back to the states in time for the surgery. Once again, I can’t get to my dear friend right now due to Covid, but I can get this campaign going for them.
Here’s What Happened:
Many of you know that Craig’s doctors discovered a brain tumor the size of a peach back in May 2010. It was a cruel diagnosis. The tumor was immediately removed at ECMC, but that surgery wreaked havoc on his body; it was invasive and left him completely paralyzed on his left side. It also left him with epilepsy.
But he fought hard for years and made an amazing recovery, and kept his sense of humor and his invariably positive perspective on life the whole time. I offer two examples here:
1. I never heard Craig complain once about anything after the surgery to remove the tumor in 2010. I remember asking him at some point, ‘how are you doing’? and he replied, ‘I’m fine. What else am I going to do? I figure I have two choices—give up or f****** fight.’
2. Fast forward to May 2020 (just a few weeks ago, right before the brain bleeds), I talked to Craig while he was in a physical rehab facility. A doctor came in to check on him, asked him his name, and Craig answered, ‘Michael Jackson.’ Doctor didn’t say anything, and then turned to walk out of the room, and Craig started singing ‘So beat it… just beat it…’ – then I heard the doctor bust out laughing. It was amazing. That’s the Craig Robbins I’ve always known. I hope I get to see that version of Craig again soon.
In the end, that ordeal cost them everything financially, including the small business he started a few years earlier, because of the physical nature of that work. They had to start their lives over.
Now, some 10 years later, Craig has just suffered from a series of brain bleeds in early May, and again in early June 2020. These bleeds incapacitated him. They were caused by the radiation therapy back in 2010, and also resulted in Craig suffering from at least one stroke. Thus, Craig and his wife Liz are faced with a grim situation to be sure.
Believe me when I tell you they need all the help they can get.
All Of This Is So Expensive:
Craig is looking down the barrel of major rehabilitation, staggering expenses associated with his hospital stays, the coming changes that need to be made to his home to accommodate his condition, and the expense of having additional medical support and care at his home.
Craig and Liz would be eternally grateful for any financial support you can offer. Of course, so would I. They are facing an epic struggle right now, today. Any support you give will go a long way.
They will have to fight every day, for the rest of their lives, to tackle the obstacles in front of them.
What you can do:
1. Donate, if you can. This is critical. The stakes have never been higher for Craig and Liz Robbins.
2. Equally important: please share this campaign through your social media to help spread the word. I’m easy to find online—if there is any other information I can give you, contact me and I’ll happily do so (michael.stefanone at gmail dot com).
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of our all-time favorite artists, the Beastie Boys (the song Gratitude, from the album Check Your Head; this song was a kind of tribute to another of Craig’s favorite band of all time, Pink Floyd):
Good times gone, and you missed them
What's gone wrong in your system?
Things they bounce like a Spaulding
What'd you think, did you miss your calling?
It's so free, this kind of feeling
It's like life, it's so appealing
When you've got so much to say it's called gratitude
And that's right
Good times gone but you feed it
Hate's grown strong, you feel you need it
Just one thing, do you know you?
What you think, that the world owes you?
What's gonna set you free?
Look inside and you'll see
When you've got so much to say it's called gratitude
And that's right
Craig Robbins, and his wife Liz (married 21 years!), need our help. A brain tumor removed in 2010, and subsequent brain bleeds in May and June 2020, have left Craig incapacitated. If you know them, you know they wouldn’t ask unless their situation was desperate. If you don’t know them, they are the definition of a kind, giving couple.
This takes only a few minutes to read. I hope you can take that short time to read about this campaign now.
The Backstory:
Craig asked me to create this campaign on his behalf. Craig and I met in 7th grade and quickly became best of friends. Fast forward 34 (!) years, and here we are. I’m back in Buffalo, and Craig and Liz are in Arizona.
In 2010, I was working in Singapore (like, almost the exact opposite side of the world) when I heard about Craig’s tumor (described below), and I’ll never forget how helpless I felt then because I wasn’t able to get back to the states in time for the surgery. Once again, I can’t get to my dear friend right now due to Covid, but I can get this campaign going for them.
Here’s What Happened:
Many of you know that Craig’s doctors discovered a brain tumor the size of a peach back in May 2010. It was a cruel diagnosis. The tumor was immediately removed at ECMC, but that surgery wreaked havoc on his body; it was invasive and left him completely paralyzed on his left side. It also left him with epilepsy.
But he fought hard for years and made an amazing recovery, and kept his sense of humor and his invariably positive perspective on life the whole time. I offer two examples here:
1. I never heard Craig complain once about anything after the surgery to remove the tumor in 2010. I remember asking him at some point, ‘how are you doing’? and he replied, ‘I’m fine. What else am I going to do? I figure I have two choices—give up or f****** fight.’
2. Fast forward to May 2020 (just a few weeks ago, right before the brain bleeds), I talked to Craig while he was in a physical rehab facility. A doctor came in to check on him, asked him his name, and Craig answered, ‘Michael Jackson.’ Doctor didn’t say anything, and then turned to walk out of the room, and Craig started singing ‘So beat it… just beat it…’ – then I heard the doctor bust out laughing. It was amazing. That’s the Craig Robbins I’ve always known. I hope I get to see that version of Craig again soon.
In the end, that ordeal cost them everything financially, including the small business he started a few years earlier, because of the physical nature of that work. They had to start their lives over.
Now, some 10 years later, Craig has just suffered from a series of brain bleeds in early May, and again in early June 2020. These bleeds incapacitated him. They were caused by the radiation therapy back in 2010, and also resulted in Craig suffering from at least one stroke. Thus, Craig and his wife Liz are faced with a grim situation to be sure.
Believe me when I tell you they need all the help they can get.
All Of This Is So Expensive:
Craig is looking down the barrel of major rehabilitation, staggering expenses associated with his hospital stays, the coming changes that need to be made to his home to accommodate his condition, and the expense of having additional medical support and care at his home.
Craig and Liz would be eternally grateful for any financial support you can offer. Of course, so would I. They are facing an epic struggle right now, today. Any support you give will go a long way.
They will have to fight every day, for the rest of their lives, to tackle the obstacles in front of them.
What you can do:
1. Donate, if you can. This is critical. The stakes have never been higher for Craig and Liz Robbins.
2. Equally important: please share this campaign through your social media to help spread the word. I’m easy to find online—if there is any other information I can give you, contact me and I’ll happily do so (michael.stefanone at gmail dot com).
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of our all-time favorite artists, the Beastie Boys (the song Gratitude, from the album Check Your Head; this song was a kind of tribute to another of Craig’s favorite band of all time, Pink Floyd):
Good times gone, and you missed them
What's gone wrong in your system?
Things they bounce like a Spaulding
What'd you think, did you miss your calling?
It's so free, this kind of feeling
It's like life, it's so appealing
When you've got so much to say it's called gratitude
And that's right
Good times gone but you feed it
Hate's grown strong, you feel you need it
Just one thing, do you know you?
What you think, that the world owes you?
What's gonna set you free?
Look inside and you'll see
When you've got so much to say it's called gratitude
And that's right
Organizer and beneficiary
Michael Stefanone
Organizer
Buffalo, NY
Craig Robbins
Beneficiary