On the evening of Sunday, May 22, 2022 my younger brother, Brad, was the victim of an attack which ended in his being seriously wounded while attending the counter at work.  As of right now, my understanding is that his wounds are very serious and that any additional stress placed upon him may make his prospects worse.  As a result of the attack, his femoral artery was severed causing severe bleeding, his pelvis was broken, and bladder ruptured.  I would like to take financial concerns off of him during his recovery.

I am proud of my younger brother.  He struggled in ways I never did, and made a lot more mistakes than I did; but he had finally gotten himself together and I was proud of him.  More than anything, I do not want this to send him back into those old mistakes and struggles.  My brother worked to support his wife, and was their only source of income.  Of course, he will not be able to work for some time, and his medical bills may need to be covered as well depending on whether he is granted financial assistance.  I am no wealthy man, and I cannot help near as much as I would like to.  I ask for prayers for my younger brother, and for as much as you are able to help.

What follows is a word from Brad's wife, Heather, about her husband:

Before everything that happened, Brad has always been able to light up any room he's been in. He can easily make friends with anyone. The last few weeks, we had actually been working on renovating our house. Every morning before he left for work , he always made sure to tell me good morning and make sure I had everything I needed before he left. He also made sure to say good morning to all of our pets before he left, even if they were still asleep he made sure he told them good morning and that he'd see them later. My dad just recently had cataract surgery, Brad took the day off of work so he could make sure he could bring him to the hospital and wait with him the entire time just to make sure everything went alright. After driving my dad home, he made sure he had food and water and let him know he can get up and get anything he needs just so my dad didn't have to get up and could rest.

 Brad has always gone out of his way to help anyone he can. 

Now, with him being in the hospital still critical his big smile he always had is gone. He's in pain constantly. Every time he finally manages to close his eyes and night and try to get some rest, he ends up waking up in pain less than an hour later. If he tries to shift or readjust in anyway, he ends up in pain. He's not able to do any of the hobbies he enjoys, and isn't sure when he'll be able to again. His favorite part of any day was running around in the yard playing with the dogs. He also loves hiking. With all the injuries and damage he's not able to do any of that right now. With the damage to his left leg, he might not ever be able to comfortably do those things again. 

As of today, he's been throwing up consistently since last night. Every time he does, it not only hurts his actual stomach but also hurts his staples that run down the center of his stomach as well. He's not able to eat anything. And the only fluids he's been able to have are through IV. They are strongly considering the option of placing an NG tube. First to suction his stomach, completely. And then so he's able to be fed and get nutrients that way. They also had to add IV phosphorus to his treatment this morning. With the lack of food in his system and him not being able to eat his levels had dropped consistently low. 

We have applied for financial assistance, but it is in no way guaranteed. Without it, we are left with no way to pay for his treatment. We will have no way to make sure he can get the care he needs when he is discharged from the hospital. He will need months of physical therapy , along with follow up appointments with several different specialists. When he is discharged, he will not be able to fully walk on his own yet or fully take care of everything he needs on his own. I will need to stay with him, and help him to make sure he's alright. 

We also need his income to survive. I have metal fixtures all the way down my back from just below my neck to my lower back. They were put in to try and correct very severe scoliosis. I've developed degenerative disk disease and arthritis in my lower back , even with the metal rods and screws in place. I'm unable to work with the condition of my back. With him out of work trying to recover, we have no income at all. No way to pay our bills or even get groceries and the things we need.