(Here's a letter from Andrea's Son, he's the one who can say it best)

Hello,

This is a difficult circumstance that I have to share with you, but my mother Andrea Alvarez, widow of FX artist and sculptor Henry Alvarez, needs your help.

On December 11th my mother suffered from a bi-lateral stroke. The scariest sight to see is someone you love with all your heart have a medical emergency and you are powerless to stop it. She was rushed to the hospital where we discovered that she had a stroke that affected the back side of her brain where sight, speech and movement are impacted. Her sight seems to be unaffected but she is unable to move the right side of her body. She is speaking with some effort and has regained a little bit of movement over her right leg.

Most people know my mother for her fantastic painting skills, creating life-like wax figures for museums and clients as well as collector’s monster masks. To me she is just Mom. Kind, gentle, caring, and giving and she extended those traits to everyone she met.

My father was a renowned artist who produced wax figures for museums around the world, as well as providing his talent to the Special Effects Film Industry, working on such classic films as the original Robocop films, Total Recall, John Carpenter’s The Thing, and more. His passing left my mother with increasing struggles in paying the bills and house payments, but she managed with our help.

My mother has a long road ahead of her and needs help in the recovery / rehabilitation process. She has been living month to month on social security. We have helped out as much as we can, which has basically spread all of our income too thin.

She's a fighter and stubborn as can be, so we know she can battle through this. She's bounced back from the loss of her daughter, her husband, her mother, and three sisters. She has had skin cancer and breast cancer, and survived with flying colors, all with amazing resiliency. This time however, the battle requires physical rehabilitation and time and we are at a loss as to how to cover this.

We don’t know what the future holds for my mothers recovery and rehabilitation. We are hoping for the best but are trying to prepare for the worst in terms of her mobility. We have no way to financially cover any of this and are asking for help.

Thank you so much in advance,

Nick Alvarez