Dear Friends & Family,
We have put together this Go Fund Me page to help our cousin and, truly, one of our greatest friends, Ericka Russo.
A few weeks ago, Ericka and her family began a journey, which we can only describe as a “worst nightmare.” The morning after celebrating their anniversary, Ericka woke up for work to find her partner, Tommy, unconscious. When unable to wake him, she called an ambulance.
It took one day for Tommy to go from being a healthy, happy Dad and life partner to having a seizure caused by pneumonia and his lungs fill with fluid. He showed no symptoms of being or feeling ill before he went to bed. It wasn't until Ericka found him unconscious that she knew something was wrong. Tommy was in excellent health and took good care of himself, which is why the doctors are perplexed about what caused his lungs to be in a severe state of atrophy, consequently resulting in organ failure due to lack of oxygen.
Tommy, Ericka, and their young daughters, Aurora (4 years old) and Nova ( 1 year old in October) are in uncharted territory with a rough road ahead of them. Tommy has yet to wake from his coma, leaving the doctors unable to predict how long he will need to remain in the hospital, let alone how long his recovery will be. In addition to Ericka and her daughters experiencing one of the most heartbreaking and stressful situations anyone could imagine, due to Tommy being unable to work compounded with medical expenses, they are going through financial hardship as well.
Ericka, her daughters, family, and friends hope every day for hopeful news and his health to improve. Our goal is to raise enough money to reduce the financial stress the medical issues have caused so the family can spend as much time as possible focusing on Tommy and getting him back home. It does not go unrecognized that the last two years have been financially challenging for many, which is why we created this Go Fund Me on Ericka’s behalf. Ericka is now supporting the family on one income as a Chicago Public School music teacher. The stress of this situation is more than one person should ever have to endure. Financial stress is one thing we can help take off her plate. Please, please, please, help if you can! Jane, Tracy and Lindsay (cousins of Ericka and friends for life)