On March 13, our beloved father, husband, brother, and friend Chris Kulhanek was admitted to the ICU for what would soon become a battle for his life and would end with an amputation. Chris had aggressive internal bleeding, which caused his blood pressure to drop to impossibly low levels. His body went into shock and prioritized protecting his organs and heart, and, as a result, blood did not reach the lower half of his right calf and foot.

His vitals stabilized after a long emergency surgery in the early hours of the morning of March 14th, but his foot had no pulse. There was no choice but to amputate. Currently, he is recovering and stable but still sedated to give his body time to recover. We are confident that he will eventually bounce back, but there's a long road of rehab, prosthetic fitting, and learning and adaptation ahead.

Chris will require more time in the hospital, followed by extensive physical therapy, a custom prosthesis, and other equipment in order to return home to his life in Sealy. In the meantime, his family has countless incidental expenses--food, airfare, pet care, gas. If you are moved to do so, we humbly ask that you contribute to support Chris's recovery.

This is a man who, upon retiring, told his wife Brenda that he would continue working outside as much as he could, because stopping "would kill [him]." He loves gardening barefoot after the rain, chopping wood, barbecuing, making home made pickles and salsa, and lending a hand to anyone who needs it. We have been so pleasantly surprised and touched by the out-pouring of love from everyone whose life he's touched, and we can't thank you enough. We're incredibly hopeful that, once he is awake, he'll be as touched and grateful as we are.

They say that God gives his hardest battles to his toughest soldiers; they also say that when it rains, it pours. But, there's a French saying, "Après la pluie, le beau temps." After the rain comes good weather. We are hopeful for the future, and we thank everyone who has taken the time to offer any help they can--from food, to prayers, to financial support.

~Brenda, Ashley, & Sarah Kulhanek