Patrick Garcia is our youngest son (age 33) and is facing some challenging financial circumstances in the coming months. I shared the idea of creating a GoFundMe fundraiser with our daughter, Kasie, and she agreed to tell his story and explain his needs.

Meet Patrick

My twin brother, Patrick, was 9 when his life changed. He loved playing basketball, climbing trees and was very active in Cub Scouts when what felt like a pulled muscle turned out to be a life-changing diagnosis. That was the first time my family had heard about Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. Legg-Calve-Perthes disease is a childhood hip condition where the blood supply to the femoral head is interrupted, leading to bone death in the hip socket. 50% of children who are diagnosed experience a mostly full recovery with 50% of all patients diagnosed experiencing pain and disability in their 40s and 50s leading to hip replacements.

Patrick didn’t experience any of the optimistic outcomes associated with Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. Instead of having just one hip affected, both of his were involved, and none of the treatment options worked. After two surgeries before the age of 11, four years straight of physical therapy, and one Orthopedic Surgeon admitting there was nothing else they could do, my parents sought out a second opinion. This led Patrick to having a double femoral osteotomy at the age of 12, leaving him with significant mobility issues but hope that he could avoid the hip replacements until he was at least 40 or 50.

Unfortunately, the pain didn’t subside, it got worse, much worse. At 32, Patrick was living with debilitating hip, leg, and back pain forcing him to see the surgeon much earlier than expected. Based on x-rays, the bone death was so severe that the only way to find relief from the pain was to proceed with hip replacements. At just 33 years old, Patrick underwent the first half of a double hip replacement with the final surgery scheduled for January.

What Else Could Happen?

While Patrick is blessed to have an incredible surgeon who leads his field in efficient and effective recovery techniques, and an amazing support system in our family, nothing could have prepared us for what could go wrong.

Patrick is a bartender and absolutely loves serving and connecting with people. The restaurant he was working at was even planning on working with him during recovery to give him seated tasks to ensure he could cover his living expenses. Unexpectedly, the week after his first surgery the restaurant closed, leaving Patrick without a job. With the recovery for hip replacements requiring a long and slow return to rigorous activities, like bartending, this also leaves Patrick without the ability to return to any job in his industry until late April.

How Can You Help?

Patrick is one of the hardest-working people I know. He is also incredibly generous to those he cares about, but asking for help does not come easily. Right now, support from friends, family and kind strangers would mean everything!

We are asking for donations to help Patrick cover his basic living expenses like rent, utilities and groceries from January through April. With a long road of physical recovery ahead, the stress of how he will pay his bills should not be another burden he has to carry.

How Will the Funds be Used?

We are hoping to raise $10,000, which will go toward:

- First: basic living expenses from January through April

- Second: helping with medical bills related to surgery and recovery

Thank you so much for reading, for caring, and for helping Patrick through this incredibly difficult season! Whether you can help financially, help by sharing Patrick’s story, or just keep him in your thoughts, any help is incredibly appreciated!