Help Kate Heal

The Holidays were cut short for Kate this year. On December 28th, she suffered a major stroke which left her left side paralysed. She is left handed.

I can't sum up Kate's story any better than her friend Mary Ellen, in an appeal to her own Facebook friends yesterday:

"A dear friend of mine, Kate Russell, who recently suffered a debilitating stroke, needs help. She is one of the smartest, most compassionate human beings I know. She has always supported others, and animals, in any way she could. She has been one of my most treasured supporters during my cancer fiasco, and I would help her any way I can.

She is currently in a long-term rehabilitation facility, and has just found out that Medicare allows for all but $35 of her monthly Social Security to be paid as a “shared cost” to the facility. This is SO DEVASTATING. She is trying to get an MRI approved to check for the extent of permanent damage, as she is currently struggling to regain use of her left side. So much to deal with.

Everything she owns is currently in a storage unit, and she needs to let it all go: family heirlooms, cherished mementos, etc. Everything. I cannot wrap my head around someone working so hard for a lifetime, only to have it all disappear in a heartbeat. It is beyond unfair... it’s not how this is supposed to work"!

We want to raise money to help Kate pay her bills while she recovers. We want to put her mind at ease, keep her blood pressure down and help her to heal.