Help Injured Police Officer with Daily Expenses

This fundraiser is for Officer Robert Brian McFarland of the Ashland, Nebraska Police Department. On October 30th, 2020, Officer McFarland was severely injured after responding to a domestic disturbance. (The initial news story is here: https://wahoo-ashland-waverly.com/ashland/news/mcclain-changes-plea-to-guilty/article_63820008-3fdb-11eb-b124-cbda13393a99.html and the recent follow up here: https://wahoo-ashland-waverly.com/ashland/news/suffering-adds-up-for-apd-officer-injured-on-duty/article_7ff9d0ba-26d2-11ec-9e92-8ba9e6fdd730.html ). While attempting to make an arrest, his left humerus was shattered into six pieces and his left shoulder was dislocated. Doctors attempted to piece the shoulder back together however the initial surgery was unsuccessful and now, almost a year later, Officer McFarland will be facing a complete shoulder replacement and more than another year of recovery. It is highly unlikely he will be able to return to work any time soon and doctors are giving him a 50/50 shot at ever working as a police officer again.

 

Although he is receiving worker's compensation payments, that amount is only 2/3 of his initial base salary as averaged over the six months prior to the incident. To make matters worse, Officer McFarland, although a 20+ year veteran police officer, had not been with the Ashland Police Department very long and the months used to calculate this rate was while he was still on probation and making probationary wages.

 

Officer McFarland had been hanging on in hopes of being able to weather the losses but the injuries are proving too problematic for him to be able to return to any gainful employment as the fracture failed to heal and the hardware that had been placed began to loosen and fall out.

 

 

Furthermore, Officer McFarland has suffered several other setbacks including the sudden illness and death of a pet, multiple vehicle breakdowns, and a wife who has also fallen ill and has been placed on disability. He is currently trying to sell his home as he has fallen behind on mortgage but the housing market seems to have stalled.

 

Your donations would be used to help Officer McFarland catch up on car repairs, mortgage, utilities that have fallen behind, and potential moving expenses for when he is finally able to find a buyer for his home.

 

Thank you for any support you can give.