On Saturday, February 18, 2023, Matt suffered a stroke in his occipital lobe due to a blood clot in his brain. Matt was unresponsive and was transported to the local hospital. While at the local hospital, the doctors determined it was best to fly him to the larger regional hospital where his new doctors found that Matt's blood clot was moving from the neck and traveling north within his occipital lobe (the section in the back of the brain). The doctors performed surgery to remove the blood clot but were unable to fully remove the whole blood clot due to a small portion moving into a part of the brain that was inoperable. On Sunday, February 19, 2023, Matt had another surgery to remove part of his skull and put a port in to help drain the bleeding and fluid and the swelling of his brain. Over the past week, the ventilator was turned off to help encourage Matt to breathe on his own. He has been able to continue to breathe on his own, but the ventilator is still in place and being used more as a CPAP machine. Matt seems to follow some commands like wiggling his toes and fingers, his left side is more responsive than his right, and he has opened his eyes a few times but more due to pain or discomfort. Matt has not yet woken up. While we wait for Matt to wake up, we continue to pray daily for God's healing.

Matt loves his family and works hard to support them. He is a very caring person and is always there with a listening ear. Matt is willing to go out of his way to help those around him. Amanda and his kids are waiting to be able to look into his smiling eyes again and hear his joyful laugh.

Matt and Amanda both work jobs that their income depends on working with their clients. If they take time off from work, they don't get paid. There is no paid time off. Matt did not have disability insurance, so there is no income from Matt while he is healing from this stroke in the hospital, and then the long rehabilitation and recovery that will follow.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. Once Matt wakes up, the doctors will be able to fully assess the damage the stroke has done to Matt's functioning. There will be a long road to recovery with many expenses.

Our God is a God of miracles, and we continue to pray over Matt daily. Please find it in your heart to help this beautiful family support their children while walking through this tragedy.