My name is Jeff Hartley. If you know me, you know I've spent my life trying to bring joy and help to others. I am a member of the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas (IBRBS), and I've loved putting on the red suit for the kids. Back in 2019, I also had the privilege of donating a kidney to a man I met at the furniture store where I worked. I felt led by God to donate, and it was an experience of a lifetime. If I had to make the choice again, I would not hesitate.

But right now, I am the one who desperately needs help. I am fighting to stand upright again.

In the summer of 2023, I started having severe neck and back issues. Three discs collapsed onto my spine, and by mid-August of that year, my posture had completely collapsed. I had my first neck surgery (C3-C7 fusion) on October 4, 2023. While I thought I was on the road to recovery, I never fully regained my strength.

I tried to keep going and return to work part-time, but the pain, the pressure on my neck, and the side effects of my medication became unbearable. On November 1, 2025, I had to leave work for good. By the time I got home that day, my posture had fully collapsed again. I have been totally bent over ever since. I even had to step away from being Santa, which broke my heart.

Recently, I received devastating news from my neurosurgeon at UAB. Recent MRIs show myelomalacia (spinal cord softening), stenosis, further compression around C3, and sagittal imbalance. My spine is continuing to worsen.

To have a chance at walking upright again, I am facing a massive, incredibly delicate spinal fusion from C2 all the way down to L1. My neurosurgeon at UAB is highly rated, and he noted that there are only four hospitals in the entire country equipped to handle a surgery this complex. If we proceed, the road ahead is daunting: several days in the hospital, six weeks in a rehab facility, and up to a year of total recovery time. The alternative is learning to live bent over as I am now, facing long-term physical therapy with no guarantees.

We are meeting with the neurosurgeon again in a few weeks to finalize our plans. But the truth is, whether I undergo this massive surgery or have to learn to live life without it, my wife Lani and I are in desperate need of financial help right now.

I am unable to work. We are surviving solely on Lani's paycheck and my Social Security. The co-pays, out-of-pocket costs from the past year of medical care, and the daily cost of living have completely robbed our savings.

I have always been someone who wants to give. It is incredibly hard, and honestly humbling, to be the one asking. But I want to walk upright again. I want to stand tall beside my wife of 12 years. I want to put the red suit back on for the kids.

Any support you can offer — whether it's a donation to help us survive this crisis, sharing this page with your church or community, or simply keeping us in your prayers — means the absolute world to us.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Jeff & Lani Hartley

Birmingham, Alabama