Support Waters through Brain Surgery & Recovery

Abigail Ohler Bower is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Lionel Semedo.

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While out on a run on June 10th, 2021, Waters Lionel Semedo lost control of his body and suddenly fell - dangerously and hard. After breathing through his adrenaline and the visceral shock and fear that came from realizing that he was not in control of his balance and movement, Waters managed to get home and drive himself into the hospital. Water’s vitals were measured and the nurses and doctors suddenly sprang into action. His blood pressure was 236/165 (stage 3 hypertension) putting him at severe risk for stroke. He was no longer allowed to leave the hospital, and a barrage of tests followed, in seeking answers to what was causing his vitals to be so seriously out of whack. After an MRI scan, the news came back.

A ping pong ball-sized tumor was found growing from the auditory nerve, pressing on the brain stem and the optical nerve -- causing vision, and balance problems. Waters was immediately rushed from the Berkshires Hospital to Mass General Hospital for an emergency surgery to install a Shunt in his head, which acts as a pressure release valve for cerebrospinal fluid. The doctors explained that the shunt installation enables them to be able to perform the second surgery that must take place at the beginning of August, once the recovery time from placing the shunt is complete. The second surgery will be the big one: Removing the tumor.

The tumor is called an Acoustic Neuroma, which doctors say needs to be removed ASAP. Brain surgery naturally comes with risk, but the location and size of the tumor makes this procedure particularly delicate and dangerous. The neurosurgeon team thinks they can pull it off and Water’s mom says it is NOT his time to go!! However Waters is facing the reality that he needs to hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. If surgery goes well and Waters comes out on the side we want him on - the recovery side - the rehabilitation period necessary will be extensive and astronomically expensive. Currently, Waters is working with MassHealth Advocacy group to get what coverage he can, but so far he has little concept as to how much of the surgery will be covered by Mass Health.

This is a terrifying time. Everything that Waters was doing in his daily life leading up to this has come to an abrupt stop, with all hands on deck necessary to focus on the task at hand -- getting through the surgeries, recovery, and healing. Waters is facing immense hospital bills for the surgeries themselves, and extensive physical therapy and around the clock care following his surgery, for a period of likely at least a year. Waters will need the helping hands of friends and family to get him to and from doctors appointments and to be driven around in general for various appointments and day to day needs. He will not be able to work during this time, and therefore will have no income or any of the means of financial support necessary for our average daily existence. He will need support to keep food in his home and bills paid.

Waters is a staple figure of healing, love, compassion, and a force to be reckoned with within the Boston, greater Boston, Worcester, and Berkshires Massachusetts communities. Waters is a healer. He has been a practicing massage therapist for 11 years. He is a community builder. For years, Waters has engaged with and supported the arts and music scenes of the greater Boston community, and is considered an integral action-oriented player to keeping these communities thriving. Waters has a big heart and a hug to match - both of which absolutely envelope you to your core when in his presence, or his arms. Waters has a vision. For the last 5 years, Waters has been working diligently to launch his dream - his founding vision of CHI. CHI - or The Center for Harmonious Integration - has a goal of cultivating a multi faceted approach that considers all angles in providing economic wellness to Massachusetts by addressing housing and food insecurity dilemmas, and mental and physical health wellness, to name a few. CHI addresses the need for healing, social wellness and collective progress head on, focusing on low income community needs and structural inequalities based on race and class divide. Waters strives to build more affordable housing in New England and to acknowledge the struggle that people of color in these communities have endured over the years, and to use CHI to uplift these communities. The work and dedication that Waters has put toward his vision is nothing short of ambitious, impressive, and admirable. His determination has been ceaseless, and his efforts have paid off. Waters has multiple endorsements and investor backings toward his vision of CHI - and it is of the utmost importance to our communities at large that Waters is able to recover fully from this surgery and continue building this mission. Waters has stated that "CHI is still the mission whether I'm here or not." He is used to being the healer, the strong one, the one that anyone can lean on or call in a time of need. To say that putting this information out about his current health predicament has been difficult for him is an understatement. Waters is not one to ever ask for help. He was reared by his single loving mother and learned young how to always look out for himself - with a deeply ingrained mind set of the necessity to not rely on others in order to get by, but simultaneously, to always extend a helping hand to others. Well, now he needs our help - and he’s going to get it. Our mission now is that we will do everything in our power to get him back on his feet and working toward his dream -- fostering and enriching the communities in which we reside, so that we may ALL thrive.

We ask that you please consider donating anything at all that you can, and help us to spread the word as much as possible. Waters recovery depends on any helping hands and financial backing that we can muster. Updates will continue as we learn more about his condition and the road that lies ahead. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for supporting this cause. Waters sends all of his love out to each and every one of you, as do we all!