<div>At 1:15 PM on March 26, my brother George (Ujo) texted his friend that his job interview went great. By 1:22 PM, he was unresponsive. By 2:00 PM, paramedics were telling me he might not survive the drive to the hospital. Code Blue.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>My name is Gerald. I'm George's younger brother. This is what happened.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>George (Ujo), 27 years old, had just wrapped a job interview he was excited about. He FaceTimed a friend to celebrate. Mid-call, he grabbed the left side of his head, experiencing thunderclap headaches, looked at his friend, and said: "Is this an aneurysm?"<em> </em>He tried to google his symptoms on the call.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/101824681_1774864384234450_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Then he went pale, started sweating, and stopped responding. His friend called someone nearby to rush to George's apartment. That friend arrived within five minutes and found George barely conscious — eyes rolled back, drenched in cold sweat. He called 911. Then he called me.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I got there three minutes after the paramedics. I watched four of them carry my brother to the ambulance. He couldn't walk. He couldn't talk.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/101824681_177486451777000_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>A paramedic called me on the way to the hospital and said something I will never forget:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>"This is very serious. Head to the ER now. He doesn't look like he's going to make it."</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>The ER</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>At the ER, I was asked to give consent to operate on my brother's brain. Consent to put him under anesthesia. Consent to open his skull. Consent to do whatever it takes to keep him alive.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/101824681_1774864567514557_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They called my dad. They told him the same thing — George most likely wouldn't make it, and he should get to the hospital before it's too late.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>My dad called me back. I have never heard my dad cry. Not once in my entire life. He asked if I could fly our mom from Las Vegas to Los Angeles so she could spend George's final moments with him.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Six Hours in the Waiting Room</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>George went into emergency surgery at 4:30 PM. It lasted over six hours.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For six hours, our family stared at a waiting room screen showing patient names and their status. I watched George's name sit under "OR / Procedure" while other patients moved to post-op recovery, one after another.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/101824681_177486465689895_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div>By the sixth hour, his name vanished from the screen. It didn't move to recovery. It just disappeared.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We didn't know if he was alive.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Five minutes later, a supervisor told us George was out of surgery and had been moved to the Neuro-ICU.
</div>
<div>That was the first time I exhaled in six hours.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>What Happened to George</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/101824681_1774864807373593_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div>George suffered a ruptured brain AVM — an arteriovenous malformation. It's an abnormal tangle of blood vessels in the brain that he was born with. It had been there, silently, for 27 years without anyone’s knowledge. No symptoms. No warning signs. On March 26, it ruptured without any reason causing a hemorrhagic stroke, flooding the left side of his brain with blood.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The left side of the brain controls language, memory, and motor function.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>During the emergency surgery, surgeons removed a section of George's skull to give his swelling brain room to survive. They evacuated as much of the hemorrhage as possible and placed a drain to relieve the dangerous pressure. The surgery lasted over 6 hours and saved his life.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>But the AVM itself — the root cause — was intentionally left untreated. Removing it during the emergency would have risked further brain damage. That requires its own surgery, and George's brain has to heal first.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Where George Is Now</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/101824681_1774865055839546_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/101824681_1774865017373343_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div>George is now in stable condition. Follow-up scans show significant improvement and his doctors are cautiously optimistic.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>But he is facing:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>2 more surgeries</strong> — to remove the AVM entirely and reconstruct his skull with a custom prosthetic plate
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Intensive rehabilitation </strong>— speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy — to regain motor function, verbal ability, and memory that the hemorrhage took from him
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>24/7 attentive care </strong>— his doctors have warned that another stroke is likely, requiring constant monitoring
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>At least 6 months before he can work again</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Why We Need Help</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>George was on involuntary unpaid leave from his job when this happened. That's why he was interviewing. He has zero income.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>George didn't cause this. He was born with it. He lived 27 healthy years — no medications, no medical history — until it ruptured on what was supposed to be a good day.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>How You Can Help</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>How Donations Will Be Used:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Hospital and ICU costs
</div>
<div>2 upcoming surgeries
</div>
<div>Intensive rehabilitation
</div>
<div>Speech, physical, and occupational therapy
</div>
<div>6 months of living expenses
</div>
<div>24/7 attentive care
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Other ways to support George:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Share this page with your network
</div>
<div>Meal delivery or gift cards for the family
</div>
<div>Messages of encouragement — we read every single one to him
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If you can't donate, please share this page.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Every share puts George's story in front of someone who might be able to help. That matters more than you know.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>George's doctors say that at 27, healthy and strong, he has one of the best possible recovery profiles. Young brains can heal and rewire in extraordinary ways. There is real hope.
</div>
<div>But 6 months of surgeries, therapy, and bills with zero income is more than our family can carry alone.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>My parents and I will be managing these funds to pay for his medical bills, rehabilitation, and living expenses. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you for reading about my brother.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Gerald Welly</strong>
</div>

Dwight Bjorn Manzala

Anonymous

Leanne Morris

Jackie Low

I-Lam Nguyen

Tiahni Ashley - Moleta

Dominic Enriquez

Tifany Pan

annabelle lam

Tammy Yu

Jedik Jedika

Yijing Wang

Help George (Ujo) Recover from a Sudden Brain Hemorrhage

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help George (Ujo) Recover from a Sudden Brain Hemorrhage

Still $70,930 to go. Help us build momentum.