My name is Bradley Collins. I am a father of three and a caseworker for Butler County Job and Family Services. In April I was diagnosed with a blood infection that when septic. Since then I have had to have multiple weeks stays in the hospital in order to fight off the infection. This September the infection has reached my heart severely damaging my heart values. This damage cause back flow through my valves resulting in painful swelling from my body holding on too much fluid. Since April I have spent 45 days in the hospital across multiple visits including at Atrium, Kettering, and the Wexner Center in Columbus and had to stay in an extended health care facility for 6 weeks for aggressive antibiotics treatment. As of this time they still cannot find the initial source of the infection and I am on a home IV pump to continue antibiotic treatment. Once the infection is cleared I will require surgery to repair the valves damaged by the vegetation on my heart.

This infection has made it difficult to work and I have long since exhausted my paid leave. It has become increasingly difficult to meet current expenses due to the lack of income. The truth of the matter is I could use a little help. While I am trying to return to work now it is still difficult to work full time with an IV pump connected to me 24hrs a day. I will also soon need heart surgery to correct the valves damaged from the heart infection which means even more time away from work. Any money received with help with rent and utilities while I work on doing what it takes to over come the infection and return to a normal life.