Emily Linck's Massive Stroke at age 40

Emily Linck, who is only 40, suffered an unexpected (as it would be for all of us) and massive stroke on Monday, March 11, 2019.  Emily, who lives in Flagstaff, AZ, with her husband Ken, daughter Reid (12), and son Henry (10), is the Director of Special Education for the Northland Prepatory Academy in Flagstaff.

When Emily’s stroke occurred she was life-flighted to Banner Desert Medical Center in Phoenix for emergency medical care,  and has subsequently been transferred on Sunday, March 17, 2019 to the Encompass Rehabilitation Hospital East Valley, Mesa, AZ for acute in-patient rehabilitation.  The cause of the stroke is still undetermined, since she had no stroke risk factors, so finding a cause and preventing another is the most pressing issue for her medical team. The stroke injured the left side of her brain, so she has numerous deficiencies on the right side of her body that are still being discovered. She has recovered enough motor strength on her right side to be able to walk, but other damage is still being assessed. The most devastating injury was to her speech center, which is 80% dead. She is forming new pathways quickly and recovering words, but the cognitive damage is extensive and she has a long way to go to recovery.   

Emily has health insurance and long term disability insurance, but her health insurance doesn’t cover everything and her long term disability insurance won’t begin to provide a significantly reduced salary supplement for six months. Meanwhile, the medical services/facilities in Phoenix are the best in Arizona, but Phoenix is a three hour drive from Emily’s home in Flagstaff. As a result, Emily, and her family are incurring a high level of personal expenses (airfare, hotel, rental car, food, etc.) in order to be with Emily, and to support her during her struggles to recover her ability to speak, and return to her normal, comfortable, wonderful life. Unfortunately, some of the most important short-term therapy for her may not be covered by insurance at all, so she will have to pay out of pocket in order for her to have the this chance for recovery that is a crushing blow to our families already and devastated finances.

The first 6 months for stroke survivors are the MOST CRITICAL. Please help us get Emily over this difficult and essential milestone. Anything you can give to help cover insurance co-pays and coverage gaps, loss of income, airfare, hotels/ AirBnbs, rental cars, food, gas, childcare, pet sitting, and any other basics for Emily's crucial support network would be insanely helpful.