Hello, I know times are hard for everyone right now and can get even worse when the unexpected happens. Like the storms hitting back to back this past summer in Florida and North Carolina, and the fires in California, all these things are unexpected.

Then again, there are other unexpected things that can happen, like with our health, putting us in the hospital in a life-and-death situation. Even as we start healing, it will take a while to get back on our feet. I’m writing this because my nephew, Gary Townsend, was just put in a situation like this. On Sunday, Feb 9th, my nephew was taken to the ER. They found he had a bowel obstruction, small pockets of air leaking out of his intestines into his stomach. By the time his wife got him to the hospital, his heart rate was very high, and his blood pressure was low. He was taken into emergency surgery where they removed four or five inches of his intestines. After the surgery, he was put into ICU, where he has a catheter in his neck to speed up the antibiotics and a tube down his throat to drain the infection from his stomach. He is out of ICU and in a regular room but will be in the hospital for at least a week and out of work for another 4 weeks or more, and then only on light duty (if they offer that). At home, his wife works a full-time job, and they have 4 children they are raising: her son and three grandchildren, two of whom they have adopted. They have a high mortgage, and I believe with a little help on their mortgage and electric bills, they will be able to make ends meet. If you could help this family, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Vicki Voorhees