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Help Leigh overcome a sudden health crisis
My name is Dave Oakley , my partner in this GoFundMe is Lisa Scheinkopf , and we began this GoFundMe to get much needed financial support for a family that has always “paid it forward” from the calling that their faith compels them to do.
First, we want to share what has happened and why they need your help, and then I hope you’ll read why we feel the Covingtons are so special.
Leigh Covington , 47, is the only child of John and Linda Covington and a graduate of the Business School at the University of Alabama. Over the past decade, Leigh was responsible for running the family business, Chesapeake Consulting , which John had founded in the 1980s.
Leigh is a Type 1 Diabetic which is a genetic condition that makes managing one’s blood sugar literally a matter of life and death.
In early 2021, Leigh began to exhibit some unusual symptoms like a lack of hunger and a desire for alcohol. Impossible to see these changes as the signs of a serious issue, until July 2021 when Leigh began to experience a very rapid decline with her thinking and behavior, becoming incoherent.
Knowing this was not normal for Leigh, John and Linda took her to a nearby emergency room several times with no diagnosis to pinpoint the underlying problem.
On August 1st, 2021, Leigh was found in her home unconscious with a blood sugar level that was off the charts. She was rushed to the hospital and admitted without any immediate diagnosis possible. During the time doctors were trying to determine what was happening to Leigh while attempting to gain control over her blood sugar, it plummeted to a dangerously low level and Leigh nearly died.
Days turned into weeks and, after considerable time, Leigh was diagnosed with Wernicke Korsakoff Syndrome. This is a condition that resembles dementia and Leigh remained hospitalized from August through mid-December 2021.
Leigh’s condition has remained dire experiencing spells of recovery only to slip back into critical care where her survival remained in doubt. As of January 2022, her medical condition has stabilized, but she remains unable to care for herself or return to any kind of normal life. She is now in an assisted living facility with no real end in sight.
As devastating as her condition is, the financial burden is as damaging to her future. Inability to run the family business, medical bills from 7 months in the hospital, and the costs of her care which has no end in sight, paint an uncertain and direpicture. The costs are presently running upwards of $10,000 per month, and are not covered by insurance. Which leaves Leigh’s care to be paid from John and Linda’s retirement savings.
Lisa and I have launched this GoFundMe to share their story and try to raise funds that can lift the financial burden for this amazing family. We hope you will see their story, one they are too humble to share, and help us pay back, in some small way, to a faith filled family that has always “paid forward.”
A LIFE OF SERVICE – The Covington’s Story in short
John, Linda, and Leigh Covington are devoted to their Christian faith. Members of the Church of the Highland all three have been active in church programs, Sunday schools and conferences.
John’s business, Chesapeake Consulting, has always aimed to improve lives through the efforts to help companies. He even instigated and led a project to help the United Methodist Church’s governing body in its efforts to “save souls”. Lisa and I are part of what is lovingly referred to by its members as the Chesapeake Alumni Club, a group of people who worked at one time in John’s company over the past few decades, with memories of camaraderie, fun and doing good work together.
John, for as long as we’ve known him, has devoted countless hours and energy to prison outreach. Seeing others as brothers and sisters, no matter their condition or situation, is a way John lives faith in the truest sense. I can only imagine the lives he has saved in this kind of selfless act that is “who John is”.
In the same way, Leigh was always involved in church conferences and programs aimed at helping others and young women. She has carried on the tradition of running a business that is “in business to make a difference.”
I hope you will join us in helping lift the burden now and for her future.
My name is Dave Oakley , my partner in this GoFundMe is Lisa Scheinkopf , and we began this GoFundMe to get much needed financial support for a family that has always “paid it forward” from the calling that their faith compels them to do.
First, we want to share what has happened and why they need your help, and then I hope you’ll read why we feel the Covingtons are so special.
Leigh Covington , 47, is the only child of John and Linda Covington and a graduate of the Business School at the University of Alabama. Over the past decade, Leigh was responsible for running the family business, Chesapeake Consulting , which John had founded in the 1980s.
Leigh is a Type 1 Diabetic which is a genetic condition that makes managing one’s blood sugar literally a matter of life and death.
In early 2021, Leigh began to exhibit some unusual symptoms like a lack of hunger and a desire for alcohol. Impossible to see these changes as the signs of a serious issue, until July 2021 when Leigh began to experience a very rapid decline with her thinking and behavior, becoming incoherent.
Knowing this was not normal for Leigh, John and Linda took her to a nearby emergency room several times with no diagnosis to pinpoint the underlying problem.
On August 1st, 2021, Leigh was found in her home unconscious with a blood sugar level that was off the charts. She was rushed to the hospital and admitted without any immediate diagnosis possible. During the time doctors were trying to determine what was happening to Leigh while attempting to gain control over her blood sugar, it plummeted to a dangerously low level and Leigh nearly died.
Days turned into weeks and, after considerable time, Leigh was diagnosed with Wernicke Korsakoff Syndrome. This is a condition that resembles dementia and Leigh remained hospitalized from August through mid-December 2021.
Leigh’s condition has remained dire experiencing spells of recovery only to slip back into critical care where her survival remained in doubt. As of January 2022, her medical condition has stabilized, but she remains unable to care for herself or return to any kind of normal life. She is now in an assisted living facility with no real end in sight.
As devastating as her condition is, the financial burden is as damaging to her future. Inability to run the family business, medical bills from 7 months in the hospital, and the costs of her care which has no end in sight, paint an uncertain and direpicture. The costs are presently running upwards of $10,000 per month, and are not covered by insurance. Which leaves Leigh’s care to be paid from John and Linda’s retirement savings.
Lisa and I have launched this GoFundMe to share their story and try to raise funds that can lift the financial burden for this amazing family. We hope you will see their story, one they are too humble to share, and help us pay back, in some small way, to a faith filled family that has always “paid forward.”
A LIFE OF SERVICE – The Covington’s Story in short
John, Linda, and Leigh Covington are devoted to their Christian faith. Members of the Church of the Highland all three have been active in church programs, Sunday schools and conferences.
John’s business, Chesapeake Consulting, has always aimed to improve lives through the efforts to help companies. He even instigated and led a project to help the United Methodist Church’s governing body in its efforts to “save souls”. Lisa and I are part of what is lovingly referred to by its members as the Chesapeake Alumni Club, a group of people who worked at one time in John’s company over the past few decades, with memories of camaraderie, fun and doing good work together.
John, for as long as we’ve known him, has devoted countless hours and energy to prison outreach. Seeing others as brothers and sisters, no matter their condition or situation, is a way John lives faith in the truest sense. I can only imagine the lives he has saved in this kind of selfless act that is “who John is”.
In the same way, Leigh was always involved in church conferences and programs aimed at helping others and young women. She has carried on the tradition of running a business that is “in business to make a difference.”
I hope you will join us in helping lift the burden now and for her future.