Get Sean Back on His Feet

Our friend Sean has some more medical woes!

INJURY AND HOSPITALIZATION

A few months ago, Sean had an unfortunate accident where he broke his leg just above the ankle.  That SEEMED to be healing well,  but a few weeks later, Sean received some bad news:  He had contracted cellulitis in the area around the plates – a particularly nasty bacterial infection.  People with cellulitis are in grave danger of contracting gangrene and losing the affected limb – or even death.

So Sean spent two weeks in hospital getting the treatment he needs for THAT … and then spent a MONTH off that leg with no working, cutting back on smoking, watching his nutrition ... plus regular hospital visit for checkups. 

In that time, friends rallied around and raised enough money to keep Sean and his family of wife and  kids, including baby Bruce, fed and roofed.

But ... while the  infection slowly improved, Sean continued to be unable to put any weight on the  leg - indicating that the bones were just not knitting. 

So finally it was crunch time, and the verdict is - he needed to go BACK to surgery!  One plate where the infection had reached was  removed, the area properly cleaned and disinfected and what have you... and a splint installed - then later there will be ANOTHER procedure to reattach the plates. 

Meanwhile there's the  TWO MONTHS of no money until his next paycheck, with rent, payment on the plates, utilities, and food necessary to keep that family afloat - including his little boy Bruce who is just starting to walk now.

SO WHO IS THIS GUY?

It was about 7 years ago that Sean invited a group of photographers up to the indigenous village of Chingchuan, to teach a photography workshop to a group of kids.  The result of that effort was over NT$2.1 million raised to renovate a derelict building into the Taoshan Youth Center - that still stands today right at the entrance of the village as a symbol of "Yes you can make a difference."

As expats in Taiwan, we usually don't have a family support group for when things go wrong.  Whenever an expat has needed help in the community, Sean would rally people around to help.  Running Peace Fest, raising money for someone injured in a fall or a motorcycle accident, arranging a "living funeral" for Lynn Miles, navigating the red tape to get Hannah Hornsby cremated and her remains returned to Canada - those are the things that Sean does for this community.  We all have heard the saying that “many families are just a paycheck away from homelessness.”  - Let’s not let this happen to one of ours.

HOW MUCH DO WE NEED?

4000 GBP (about NT160,000) will help Sean pay the hospital bills, keep a roof over his head, feed his family, meet his obligations, AND pay off a chunk of those plates. 

Could you spare a thousand or two Taiwan dollars for a friend?  And  could you please share this link with as many as your friends as possible?  PLEASE REMEMBER this GoFundMe operates in British Pounds, so NT$1000 is about GBP25.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for helping out a friend!