A little over two years ago, my wife Mary had to have part of her foot removed due to complications from diabetes. She was out of work for over 9 months, eventually returning to work in the summer of 2024 at Goodwill and then back with the Mount Vernon City Schools in the fall of 2024.

During that time, we were fortunate to have a second mortgage, which helped assist us with Mary's medical and other bills. Then, over the weekend of October 11-12, Mary got what she thought was a bad case of the flu that was going around at school. She didn't seem to be getting better, and eventually, on Sunday, October 19th, she was transported by squad to the local hospital. The diagnosis was acute diabetic ketoacidosis caused by an infection that settled in her bone. She had to have part of her lower leg amputated. She is still in the hospital as of October 27th.

As we anticipate another extensive recovery period, I am concerned that we simply don't have the funds to pay these extra medical bills and other expenses during this time. Our family budget is already stressed. I wanted to try to do everything without having to ask others for assistance, but at this point, we don't have many other options. Please prayerfully consider some help for my wife to ease her worry about how we are going to pay for everything. Thank you.