Help Mark and Theresa recover after dog attack

My dear friend Theresa's husband Mark was attacked by a friend's 120-pound Rottweiler dog on March 7. Mark went to the friend’s house to help her with a laundry room renovation that her husband had been unable to complete because he died unexpectedly a few weeks prior. The dog lunged for Mark's throat in the enclosed laundry room without any warning. Mark, who has a black belt in Karate and has a lifelong devotion to health and fitness, was able to get his elbow up in time and then vigorously fought the dog. After several deep bites to his arms and ripped flesh, Mark called out the friend’s 16-year-old son who ran in and tackled the dog using his own wrestling and football training to help save Mark’s life. Experts have labeled this a level-5 attack on the Dunbar dog bite scale. Level 6 is fatal.

Mark is trying to heal both physically and emotionally. He and Theresa are both self-employed remodeling contractors whose income depends on performing building and remodeling work--they do not have paid leave of any kind. (Their contracting insurance only covers third parties.) Mark cannot work because he can't hold anything weighing over 25 pounds, and no one knows how much longer his recovery will take. He is severely traumatized and in need of psychological counseling. It is terrible to see such a strong, physical man be so shattered by a beast when he was just trying to be helpful to a friend with three young kids whose husband had just died.

Theresa has her own health problems which have required a long series of doctors and treatments to figure out. She has had several near-death situations due to her mast cell activation syndrome and can go into anaphylactic shock if someone is smoking or even mowing the lawn. She also has asthma and a long list of other conditions that have been very expensive to treat. Their son is about to start college. They need funds for medical and psychological treatment and to help pay bills for their family until they can get fully back to work.

We would greatly appreciate any help you can extend to my friends as they navigate this difficult time.