Hi, my name is Stella, and I am fundraising on behalf of my sister Emily and brother-in-law Dallas.

Dallas and Emily have been enduring a tough year that started with both of them experiencing layoffs. Shortly after Emily started a new career, Dallas landed a new role.. but instead of heading to work on August 21st, her found himself in the ICU:

Following a week of worsening symptoms -and two ER discharges- that began on August 10th, Emily pushed to have Dallas admitted to the hospital on August 18th. Dallas couldn't stop vomiting and was nearly unable to walk upon arriving to the ER.

For 48 hours following his admission, he struggled with intense nausea, fevers, tremors/rigors, and a slew of intense neurological symptoms. Emily pushed for him to be transferred to the ICU August 20th and a lumbar puncture was performed. Emily stayed with Dallas that night and awoke at 2am to see Dallas becoming hypertensive, his heart rate climbing and his fever spiked above 104. Emily pulled Dallas into her arms to calm him. A few minutes later, he went limp and began to seize. Emily watched for 17 minutes as countless doctors and nurses worked to stabilize Dallas, and ultimately intubate him.

The team tried to extubate Dallas the next day, but as that night turned into the morning of August 23rd, Dallas struggled to breathe. Emily was again pulled from him as a code was called and the team worked to reintubate him. Following the second intubation, Dallas went into a coma-like state for nearly two weeks before his lumbar puncture finally resulted on September 3rd: West Nile Encephalitis.

On September 5th, Dallas underwent a tracheotomy in order to remain of life support and slowly began to have incredibly brief moments of being "awake" each day.

Due to Dallas being on immunosuppressive medications from 2 prior kidney transplants, the West Nile virus broke through the blood/brain barrier, attacked his central nervous system, and caused intense swelling and pressure in his brain and on his brain stem. For nearly 5 weeks, nurses and doctors battled to control his fevers, seizures, tremors and hypertension. Even with constant tube feeds, Dallas lost our 1/3 of his bodyweight (60+ pounds) and his respiratory system has been nearly destroyed.

On September 26th he was deemed stable and transported to an acute-care hospital to continue care and improve his respiratory status. Unfortunately, the night of September 28th he struggled to breathe and had to be transported back to the ICU for additional critical interventions. He was finally discharged from the ICU and moved into a rehab hospital on October 12th.

At this time, Dallas is dependent on the ventilator to breathe for him. While on the ventilator he is unable to speak, so he can only communicate via writing notes or typing. He cannot eat or drink yet, and is dependent on tube feeds for nutrition. Dallas is working hard daily to regain function and strength, and works closely with respiratory therapists to try to breathe on his own for a few hours each day. His team believes he might be well enough to return home in January, with Emily being trained to properly assist in his care.

Emily has been thrown headfirst into being a single income household for the foreseeable future, on top of mounting medical bills, and unknowns surrounding Dallas's future care needs. While the critical care period has come to an end, Dallas is at the starting line of recovery and the next few months will continue to be overwhelming for both Emily and Dallas as they adapt their lives each day and prepare for a new normal.

While Dallas has been fighting for his life, Emily has been steadfast by his side. Emily slept with him in the ICU every night and continues to stay overnight with him in rehab, in addition to working full-time and being with Dallas as much as possible during the days.

Dallas and Emily have a love that knows no bounds. While we all know Emily would move mountains to get them by, she shouldn't have to, and Dallas would never want het to carry this burden alone.

Medical bills are starting to filter in and there is no timeline on when Dallas may be able to work again. Emily is now a single income home, along with an impending slew of medical bills and the cost of any equipment that Dallas will need throughout his recovery and transition home. Additionally, having to grab meals as she bounces between the hospital, her office and their home.

If GoFundMe isn't your thing, you can use Venmo (@EmMort) to send Emily $$ for a coffee or a meal.

Emily and Dallas have a lot of life left to live, and in their own words, this really is the best way to support them and help them get back to the beautiful life they've worked so hard to build.