Help Support Zak's Recovery from a Brain Aneurysm
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On August 6th, 2019, our wonderful brother Zak went to the ER in extreme pain, and on August 7th, 2019 he had a 4-hour brain surgery to repair a bleed in his brain. Zak is extremely lucky to be alive with no physical or cognitive deficits. He remained in the Neurology ICU for 10 days, and has recently been brought home to our parent’s house to continue his recovery. We are hoping you might be able to help Zak through this difficult time as he heals.
Zak makes his living by working full time as a server at a restaurant in Seattle. He’s passionate about his job and the restaurant industry, and his boss and the other staff have been very good to him. However, as is the industry norm, in his position as server at a small family-run restaurant he has no paid vacation time, and no sick leave. Due to the physical nature of his job and his need to rest and heal, he will not be able to work at all for two months and not return to full time work for at least four. Currently Zak is staying with our parents, but we want him to be able to return to his own apartment and full life as soon as he is able. Since he is not able to work and generate income, this will not be possible without financial help. We are hoping to raise 12,000 dollars to get him through this difficult time and get him back on his feet.
This is what happened to Zak:
On August 5th, 2019, Zak called our parents to say he was experiencing what he described as “the worst headache of my life,” on a pain scale of 1-10 pain scale his pain was a 10. He thought it was an extremely bad migraine. Despite applying the usual migraine treatments, the headache persisted and worsened overnight. His doctor’s office recommended he go to an Emergency Room. The staff in the ER evaluated Zak and did 2 CT scans of his head. The scans showed a subarachnoid hemorrhage from aneurysm. He was transferred by ambulance to the Neurological ICU at Swedish Hospital Cherry Hill in Seattle, where they drilled into his skull and repaired the hemorrhage during a 4-hour surgery. They stitched him back together and closed up the wound with 47 metal staples. We are incredibly grateful to the doctors, nurses and other staff for saving Zak’s life. They tell us 30% of people who have aneurysms don’t survive. They saved our brother!
The surgeons removed Zak's staples a few days ago. He is stable and on the mend with seemingly no serious neurological damage. He will have a follow up CT scan September 17. It will be a long recovery but, all in all, we are very lucky he will make a full recovery.
He has been so strong and brave. We are so proud of him, grateful to our parents Milo and Leslie, who are incredible advocates, and to friends and family for their concern.
A good portion of Zak’s costs for the surgery and a two-week hospitalization will be covered by insurance, but he will lose at least three months of work and still has to pay his rent, bills and other expenses. We want him to be able to return to his normal life when he has healed and not have to worry about losing his apartment or falling behind on his bills and obligations. We are hoping to raise $12,000 to replace his lost income in order to get him through this difficult, slow recovery and to offset his remaining medical expenses. Rent and bills are due coming up on the first, so it is urgent that we raise money now to meet these deadlines. We are grateful for your love and support, and feel blessed that our brother has such an incredible community of people surrounding him who want to help. Let’s help our fun, vibrant, vital brother get well! Thank you so much for your time and for your generosity!
Love,
Miranda & Lily
Zak makes his living by working full time as a server at a restaurant in Seattle. He’s passionate about his job and the restaurant industry, and his boss and the other staff have been very good to him. However, as is the industry norm, in his position as server at a small family-run restaurant he has no paid vacation time, and no sick leave. Due to the physical nature of his job and his need to rest and heal, he will not be able to work at all for two months and not return to full time work for at least four. Currently Zak is staying with our parents, but we want him to be able to return to his own apartment and full life as soon as he is able. Since he is not able to work and generate income, this will not be possible without financial help. We are hoping to raise 12,000 dollars to get him through this difficult time and get him back on his feet.
This is what happened to Zak:
On August 5th, 2019, Zak called our parents to say he was experiencing what he described as “the worst headache of my life,” on a pain scale of 1-10 pain scale his pain was a 10. He thought it was an extremely bad migraine. Despite applying the usual migraine treatments, the headache persisted and worsened overnight. His doctor’s office recommended he go to an Emergency Room. The staff in the ER evaluated Zak and did 2 CT scans of his head. The scans showed a subarachnoid hemorrhage from aneurysm. He was transferred by ambulance to the Neurological ICU at Swedish Hospital Cherry Hill in Seattle, where they drilled into his skull and repaired the hemorrhage during a 4-hour surgery. They stitched him back together and closed up the wound with 47 metal staples. We are incredibly grateful to the doctors, nurses and other staff for saving Zak’s life. They tell us 30% of people who have aneurysms don’t survive. They saved our brother!
The surgeons removed Zak's staples a few days ago. He is stable and on the mend with seemingly no serious neurological damage. He will have a follow up CT scan September 17. It will be a long recovery but, all in all, we are very lucky he will make a full recovery.
He has been so strong and brave. We are so proud of him, grateful to our parents Milo and Leslie, who are incredible advocates, and to friends and family for their concern.
A good portion of Zak’s costs for the surgery and a two-week hospitalization will be covered by insurance, but he will lose at least three months of work and still has to pay his rent, bills and other expenses. We want him to be able to return to his normal life when he has healed and not have to worry about losing his apartment or falling behind on his bills and obligations. We are hoping to raise $12,000 to replace his lost income in order to get him through this difficult, slow recovery and to offset his remaining medical expenses. Rent and bills are due coming up on the first, so it is urgent that we raise money now to meet these deadlines. We are grateful for your love and support, and feel blessed that our brother has such an incredible community of people surrounding him who want to help. Let’s help our fun, vibrant, vital brother get well! Thank you so much for your time and for your generosity!
Love,
Miranda & Lily
Organizer and beneficiary
Miranda King
Organizer
Seattle, WA
Milo King
Beneficiary