Corey and Danielle Bonzey of Dudley, Massachusetts, need our help.

In late September, what began as a routine hospital visit for Corey’s Crohn’s flare turned into a life-threatening medical emergency that changed their family’s world overnight.

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What Happened

After more than a decade of living with Crohn’s disease, Corey knew something felt different. Despite his insistence that it wasn’t a typical flare-up, tests initially showed little. Within days, everything spiraled.

Corey’s condition rapidly deteriorated — his blood pressure dropped to dangerously low levels, and new scans revealed the unimaginable: a perforated bowel and a ruptured rectum. He was rushed into emergency surgery, where doctors removed his rectum and most of his large intestine to save his life.

The procedure was long and complicated. Corey’s body went into severe sepsis and respiratory failure, forcing doctors to place him on a ventilator in the ICU. Danielle — his wife, best friend, and rock — stayed by his side, watching monitors and praying for movement. When Corey finally woke and, too weak to speak, wrote “Love you” on a clipboard, she says her heart “nearly exploded with relief.”

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Weeks in the Hospital

Corey spent nearly a month in the hospital — from the ICU to post-surgical recovery, and later back under close care as new complications developed. Just as he was regaining strength, multiple abscesses formed, requiring additional procedures and drains. During treatment, there was a lack of timely monitoring of kidney function while on certain medications, and his kideny function began to decline.”

On October 17th, Corey had to have a chest port placed and started dialysis, which he’ll now need three times a week for the foreseeable future. While his surgical wounds are healing, dialysis has added another layer to their family’s already heavy burden.

After 25 long days, Corey was finally able to come home — to his wife Danielle, their young son Link, and their three beloved bully dogs — but his recovery is only beginning. He faces months of healing, dialysis, follow-ups, and further surgeries.

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How This Has Impacted Their Family

Danielle, a Med-Surg nurse, hasn’t been able to work since Corey’s emergency. She’s been his full-time caregiver, managing wound care, appointments, and dialysis schedules while trying to keep their son’s life feeling normal.

They’ve gone from two incomes to none. Danielle’s Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFMLA) application is still pending — and when approved, it will only cover a small portion of what they need to get by. Until Corey is mobile and stable, she can’t return to work, and they’re facing medical bills, mortgage, utilities, and travel costs for dialysis without income or savings to fall back on.

As Danielle wrote to a friend, “Asking for money is awful and embarrassing, but we’re at that point.”

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How You Can Help

We’re raising money to help cover:

• Medical expenses and medications not covered by insurance

• Ongoing dialysis treatments and hospital follow-ups

• Essential home and living costs while both are unable to work

• Support for their son Link during this difficult time

Every dollar helps this hardworking family stay afloat while Corey fights his way back to health. If you can’t donate, sharing this page means the world too.

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About the Bonzey Family

Corey and Danielle are the kind of people who give everything they have to others. Danielle’s a nurse and small-business owner who runs The Bully Bookshop, a mobile book and art shop she built from scratch with Corey and Link. Their home is full of creativity, love, and laughter — from watercolor art projects to story time surrounded by their three bully dogs: Tachi Bear, Maui, and Kirby.

Now, they need their community to rally for them the way they’ve always shown up for everyone else.

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From the Heart

Corey’s strength and humor, even through pain, have amazed everyone who knows him. Danielle has carried their family with grace through the hardest month of their lives. Together, they’ve shown what love and resilience look like in the face of chaos.

Please help relieve some of their financial stress so they can focus on what matters most: Corey’s healing, their son, and their family’s future.

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Donate. Share. Send love. Every bit counts.

Funds will go directly to Corey and Danielle Bonzey of Dudley, MA (01571).