This is a fundraiser for my father, John Gib. He has, unfortunately, taken a turn for the worse, and his diabetes has gotten the best of him. It happened so quickly and is due to his lifelong battle with the horrible disease of diabetes, and he is now staying with me on home hospice.

It all started a few years back when he had to have knee replacement surgery. Shortly after, the wound became infected, and due to his diabetes and poor circulation, his body was unable to fight off the infection, and they had to amputate his right leg just above the knee. This then started the battle and struggle for an overweight man in his early 70s of trying to learn how to function and go about doing day-to-day things with one leg. He even had to try to learn how to walk again once he received a prosthetic, not to mention all the while being very depressed over what had happened. While trying to recover from the amputation surgery, his other foot and leg started to have issues and problems, to where they ended up taking most of the toes on his left foot.

Again, the other leg amputation wound was still, for the most part, pretty fresh and an ongoing struggle for him to get under control and heal it. With that happening now, compounding the depression he was going through, it started a whole new struggle. And now, after a few years, he's still receiving care on his left foot by a wound care clinic. Then his right hand became infected due to a small cut. The hand got so badly infected, and he couldn't fight it off that they had to amputate all but one and a half of his fingers on his right hand, and he is right-handed. Within a week, the wound from the amputation on his hand and the wound that he had been battling for over a year on his foot got to the point because of his circulation that they were going to amputate his foot on his left leg and the rest of his hand on his right. As the time came for the surgery, his doctors decided that it probably would not be best to go through with it due to his poor circulation, and his heart was only functioning at 20 to 30%. So they felt there was a strong possibility that he would not even survive the surgery. So I had to make the decision for them not to do the surgeries and to go ahead and stop with dialysis. Thankfully, my father was able to wake back up and give the same answer as I did for him. He basically said enough is enough.

So with all that said, he also does not have a life insurance policy or any savings to cover the funeral arrangements, as I do not either. We are not a family of money. So I am reaching out for help on his behalf. Anyone who knows the man knows that he has always loved unconditionally, been there for others in need, and would do anything for anybody. It also makes me feel horrible that I even have to reach out for help. But he is a man who deserves a proper send-off, and I regretfully am not able to do so on my own.