Dear family and friends, our family writes to you with completely broken hearts.

About a month ago, Maddie married the love of her life, Michael. Just three weeks before their wedding, she had brain surgery, and has been trying to recover ever since. They should have been in their newlywed phase, worrying about normal things like setting up their home and planning their future.

Mikey had been struggling for about a year with what doctors believed was Crohn’s disease. He was in and out of the hospital with severe abdominal pain, bleeding, and complications. In just the last year, he had about 6 stays and has needed around ten blood transfusions. He kept fighting through it but most recently, he was admitted to the hospital again and became septic from a serious infection. He was in a lot of pain, but he was still here, still trying to get better.

Then things took a terrible turn. During this last stay, Mikey developed a massive brain bleed. Despite everything they tried, he was declared brain dead.

Even in this, Mikey is still giving. He is an organ donor and will be paying it forward to as many families as possible. Maddie keeps saying, “If God sat him down and said, ‘I can send you back, or you can save 100 people,’ he would choose to save them.” That’s exactly who he was.

In what feels impossible to say out loud, we lost Michael to this tragedy and Maddie went from being a newlywed to a widow in the space of a month.

Because of Maddie’s brain surgery and all of this happening so suddenly, she hasn’t been able to work consistently. On top of her grief, she is now facing, funeral and memorial costs for Mikey, hospital bills, and rent and basic living expenses over the next few months.

We are doing everything we can as a family to hold her up, but we can’t do this alone. We don’t know exactly what the future looks like for her yet, but we do know that over the next few months, she shouldn’t have to worry about how she’s going to pay her bills on top of all this grief.

Your donation will go directly toward:

• Mikey’s funeral and related expenses

• Maddie’s rent, utilities, and basic needs for the next few months while she recovers and grieves.

• Hospital bills.

If you’re able to give, no matter the amount, we are deeply grateful. If you can’t donate, sharing this page, praying for Maddie, or simply keeping her in your thoughts means more than we can say.

Thank you for loving her through this nightmare and honoring Mikey’s memory with us.

— Maddie’s family