Help Cynthia and Craig Be Together at the Hospital

Our mom, Cynthia Wilson, is fighting for her life in a Portuguese hospital. While the care is covered, her husband Craig is facing a mounting financial burden just to be by her side. We are asking for your help to cover these costs so they can focus on her recovery.

On July 27 Cynthia went from being in very good health to being hospitalized. As we share this, she has been in one hospital or another for 17 days, and her care team still cannot give us an estimate for when she might go home. What started with one organ infection rapidly developed into sepsis*, which can cause multiple organs to fail. Our mom, who is not diabetic, has required dialysis, just to illustrate how dire this condition is and why her hospital stay has gone on so long.

We’re all shocked and upset. On the bright side, she is being treated in one of the top university hospitals in Portugal. Because of Portugal’s national health system, the care itself comes with no financial requirements of her and her husband, Craig. But we all know hospitalization comes with lots of other expenses that pile up.

Please help Cynthia and Craig see each other every day. One of the biggest problems is that Craig must drive over 100 miles (170 km) there and back to be with her. He’s her hero right now, we all need him to be present with her, and he is making the trek. Unfortunately, this is costing them about $50/day ($43 Euros). This is becoming a major burden on their fixed retirement budget. Again, we still don’t know when she will go home. It’s stacking up, and the financial stress of not knowing how much this will ultimately cost is something we can all chip in to relieve.

If her stay adds up to a month, that’s $1,500 USD. My sister, Krystle, and I would like to raise at least $3,000 to make sure we relieve as much of this burden and stress as possible and give them the wiggle room everyone needs during and after a crisis.

While she’s stable now, this experience has come with some truly frightening moments for her and her loved ones. Krystle, I, and everyone in Cynthia’s core support network thank you for providing some relief and showing your love and concern.

If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing this appeal with your network. Your support, in any form, means the world to us.

* a serious condition in which the body responds improperly to an infection. The infection-fighting processes turn on the body, causing the organs to work poorly. - From the Mayo Clinic