On Friday, May 29th, Dave Smith (my father) went to the doctor's office and found out that his heart was in AFib. He called me later that night and told me that he couldn't breathe, so I called an ambulance and rushed over to his house; he was then taken to Kearney Regional. Saturday, May 30th, they moved David to the ICU and, after many tests, found out that he was in heart failure and kidney failure.

After an ultrasound, they found out that his heart was only working at 20% and had 2 valves that were leaking. (Tricuspid and mitral valves). He needs open heart surgery but his heart has got to be at at least 45% strength before they can perform such surgery....

Dave needed a lot of oxygen due to the leaking heart valves and due to the lack of oxygen his body was receiving, his kidneys were filled with fluid and were in failure.  After 4.5 days at the hospital, they were able to get him back to full kidney function and drained all the fluid that had built up.  

He also had a C.T. scan and an M.R.I. done of his brain to rule out any strokes and other complications. Those both came back clear and good!

Wednesday afternoon, June 3rd, he was transferred to St. John's here in Kearney for additional therapy (speech and cognitive) and time to heal. He is expected to return to work in a couple of weeks but will need some assistance. 

We are asking for donations to help get Dave back on his feet and to relieve some stress from him not being able to work for some time. Donations would also help with medical bills. Those who know him, his hands and his shop are his life. 

If you would like to send a check, you can mail it to him at 1702 Coal Chute Road Kearney, NE, 68847.

Thank you all so much!