Help Luke, a Modern Day Hero, with Medical Bills

My name is Matt, I'm a good friend of Luke's and have been for most of my life. Luke and his wife Kendra have been married for 13 years and have two daughters, Mackenzie (8) and Lena (3). Luke has selflessly dedicated his life to his country as a Marine Corps Veteran and to the people of Rochester, MN as a police officer.

On November 16th 2021, Luke responded to a 911 call for an unresponsive infant. He arrived first on scene and provided CPR but the infant did not survive. Experiencing this traumatic event took its toll and Luke was diagnosed with reactive depression and anxiety; which could result in a PTSD diagnosis once enough time has passed. Luke has been unable to work and does not have any sick leave or Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) balances left. As a result, he was placed on an unpaid leave of absence and filed for workers compensation. Unfortunately, his current diagnosis of depression is not covered so he has had no income for the past few months while seeking treatment.

Luke is the only source of income for his family. Between medical bills, paying for insurance out of pocket, and still having normal living expenses, his savings has diminished to practically nothing. Luke was blessed to receive an emotional support dog through Soldier’s 6 to assist in his recovery (https://www.soldiers6.com/recipients) and has also been attending therapy in his efforts to return to work. We are seeking to ease the financial burden for Luke’s family while he works on his recovery and hopefully gets back to doing the job he loves.

Luke is one of the good ones. Always giving of himself in whatever capacity he can. He has chosen a career that is often times thankless (as we've seen with our fire, medical, and police heroes these past couple years). Unfortunately, sometimes those who give so much to help others aren't immune from needing help themselves. He is working hard to get back to work, but needs just a little bit of help in this interim period.

All money donated will go to Luke and his family to be used to help pay down his medical bills, pay for therapy, make mortgage payments, and to pay monthly cost-of-living expenses such as groceries and utility bills. Out of pocket family insurance coverage for 1 month is $3,506.86 and the family needs at least $4,000 to meet expenses for the next month and pay bills. We are hoping to meet at least one of these expenses but if we could meet both that would be even better!

Anything you can contribute is greatly appreciated and we ask you to keep the Ericksons in your prayers.