Hi! My name is Keri Laughter. I've put together this fund raiser for my brother, James Laughter. On February 18, 2024 he was walking down the sidewalk near his house when he stepped onto a manhole cover in the grass near the sidewalk. The manhole is for reading the water meters to the houses in the area. The cover was not secured correctly and his entire leg went into the hole, up to his hip. This damaged his knee and lower back. The damage to his knee was extensive, and his PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) was completely torn and required surgery. The surgeon replaced his PCL with a doner PCL. The injury and subsequent surgery left him unable to stand for more than an hour, sit for more than one to two hours, and he can't lift more than 10 lbs. without being in pain.

Prior to this injury he was working at the Walmart Distribution Center in Corinne, UT where his job included unloading trucks and using heavy equipment to move and store pallets of merchandise. Due to his injury he's no longer able to perform his job duties, and the Doctors have specified that he is only able to work part time. Initially he was put on short term disability, but now he is on long term disability. He has been working with a lawyer to settle a case with the city for the injury due to the unsecured manhole cover. He's also working with Walmart to get into a position that will accommodate his disability and he has applied for social security disability.

It turns out it can take a while to get approved for social security disability and to settle the case. In the mean time he has monthly bills, a house payment, medical bills, and needs to feed himself and his sons, who live with him. We thought his case would have been settled and approval for disability would have come through by now, but he's been working through this for about a year now, with no conclusion at this time.

I'm humbly asking for help so that he can continue to stay in his house, pay bills, and eat while he's in this limbo. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much for your time.