Emergency Medical Bills and Moving Back to N.C.

Hello friends and family.

I'm reaching out to you with a heartfelt request for help. Leah and I are currently facing a challenging time due to significant medical bills and the urgent need to move back across the country to be with our family.

After working to open a kava bar here in Washington, we had to make this difficult decision to leave the company we helped to create. Wanting to move back to North Carolina was an easy choice after this difficult period. Our plans for moving were coming together but unfortunately whilst traveling out of state, Leah became incredibly sick. She was sent to three separate emergency rooms and admitted overnight to two of them.

I was able to get the first flight out of Seattle and spent the following ten days living out of a hotel, finding her a specialist, and trying to get her well enough to travel again. Luckily, we were able to find her a specialist and get her the procedure to begin treatment. This experience has only bolstered our need to get back home to be around friends and family.

To top off an already awful experience, while we were in Louisiana, a drunk driver decided to come flying down our street and completely totaled my car. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it is unclear if we will be able to get any type of settlement from the incident. This trip was an expense that we were not prepared for. Lack of insurance and being out of state has left all medical expenses to be out of pocket. Last-minute flights with days of hotel room stays have left us with virtually nothing in the bank and a dire need to get home to NC.

Any of you that know us, know that this is the last thing we feel comfortable doing. We have never been the “ask for help” type of people, but we are not too proud to admit that we need help. All travel and hotel expenses have completely wiped out all of our savings. We have a lease that needs to be broken, moving costs, and one less car that we would have had in order to get us back. It's easy to look back at this last year as the single most difficult year of our lives.

We know we are far from the only people struggling right now, but any help, no matter the size, will go directly towards covering our medical expenses and travel costs to reunite with our family. If you’re unable to donate, sharing this campaign on your page or sharing with friends would also be incredibly helpful.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to read our story and we truly cannot wait to be closer to the people we love.

-Leah and Elijah