Supporting Recovery and Medical Costs for Dave

My name is Erin – I’m Dave’s girlfriend, an RN and his personal nurse. I am starting this fundraiser on his behalf.

Dave contracted Covid-19 in early March 2020. At around the same time he also lost his job where he had worked for the previous 10 years. His long journey with this virus began with a month of acute illness, followed by 2 hospitalizations, and numerous ER visits. This has taken a substantial toll both physically and financially.

When Dave was discharged from his last 11 day stay in the hospital on April 11th 2020, he was barely able to walk. The doctors expected him to make a full recovery within weeks and Dave expected to able to return to the work he loved. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. Despite living in an area with amazing healthcare and having health insurance that isn’t cheap no doctor has been able to reassure him or give a timeline of when or even if he will fully recover. This dramatically adds to the uncertainty of what’s to come.

Prior to March 10th Dave was active and healthy. He worked out regularly and had no issues pushing himself in all areas of his life. On top of his physically demanding job, he was working tirelessly on opening his own bar and restaurant in Everett WA and was close to realizing his goal. Covid-19 stopped him in his tracks. It has been devastating for him to watch his hard work go to waste and the money he saved evaporate at the expense of his medical care. He is hoping that when this nightmare ends, he can pick up where he left off but at this point doesn’t know if he will be physically able to.

Now it has been 19 months since this all started and Dave has still not recovered from the effects of the virus. This is certainly not what we expected and he has had to make some serious adjustments to his new limitations.

He continues to suffer from neurologic, cardio-pulmonary, and mental health complications associated with Covid-19’s lingering effects. He has made a lot of progress since March but he often experiences relapses and is not close to his previous baseline of function. Even the simplest tasks like making breakfast and taking out the garbage are difficult or even impossible at times. Walking can leave him gasping for air and fatigued and conversations are challenging as he often forgets what he’s saying mid-sentence and gets frustrated. Some days are better than others of course, but he continues to spend the majority of his time resting in bed hoping this will end. It’s a stark difference from the busy and active life he was living to say the least.

As the months continue to roll on without consistent improvement, there is no certainty that Dave will be able to continue to support himself. Sadly, as Covid-19 is still new and much is being learned about the lasting damage, there is no objective criteria for a disability benefits claim. Without any financial support or improvement to the point where he can return to work, he is facing an even bigger uphill battle.

So, I am asking you to please consider donating to help with:

- Medical debt and future testing costs

- Basic living expenses and medical insurrance while he is still unable to work

- Recovery of some of his lost investment capital for opening his business that he worked so hard for

He is not someone who has an easy time asking for help, and that is why I am doing this for him. Please find it in your hearts to contribute to this fundraiser and help through a difficult period. We understand this is a challenging time for everyone but try imagining facing all of it while and unable to function normally. That is how it is for Dave.

I thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart, Erin