Hospital & Memorial Expenses for Tyler Ahl

Hi, my name is Soozie Eastman. I had the honor of working alongside Tyler and his mom Andrea while I ran the Louisville Film Society. At every event in my 7 years there, Tyler and Andrea were by my side. First to arrive, last to leave. Tyler's enthusiasm and work ethic was a gift to our film community and beyond.

On July 1, 2022, Tyler left this earthly existence. Our community, his mother, and all the lives he touched will never forget him, his personality, his laugh and the way he was game for everything. He was a survivor afterall, having made it through his first cancer diagnosis and treatment in 2016. These past few weeks, however, symptoms returned, Tyler took a turn for the worse, and he passed away peacefully surrounded by those who love him.

Since GoFundMe is a very secure and well-known giving platform, I discussed with Andrea her thoughts on creating a fundraiser here and she approved. There are going to be a lot of hospital bills that come from Tyler's ICU stay. There will be funeral costs. There are also bills we simply don't want Andrea to worry about as she grieves the passing of her son, her right hand, her best friend.

Whatever you can do to help is appreciated. Be the amount small or large, every donation counts. Every share of this fundraiser helps.

I have created this fundraiser for Andrea to receive the funds. She will be the beneficiary of this fundraiser and in charge of all withdrawals. I am setting this up for her, in Tyler's honor, as she has more than enough on her plate at this time.

July 2, 2022 - from Andrea

I don't even have the words to say right now. Tyler passed last night at 4:36pm. I miss him so much. I just don't even know what to think right now. We have so many expenses for Tyler and the hospital bills haven't even started rolling in yet. So many people are asking how they can help and giving to his fundraiser would be the best way to do that right now. There is a lot to figure out.

Here is a bit more about what has happened these past 2 weeks:

Tyler is a 26-year-old young man who was on his way to living his dream. He had beaten cancer once after almost dying on the way to the hospital. A year-and-a-half into treatment, and after a huge surgery, he was doing well and off to start living to the fullest again.

Six years later and here we are once more.

In the early morning hours of June 16th, Tyler awoke with a splitting headache and shortly started vomiting. He was rushed by ambulance to Norton Brownsboro Hospital, where he was quickly diagnosed with a stroke and 3 brain bleeds. Through further scans they have found 3 very small tumors in his brain and a 5 cm mass in his lung. All these tumors are currently treatable but the stroke has created major complications.

On Friday evening, Tyler's brain swelling and pressure was so bad he had to have brain surgery where a small portion of his skull was removed and they went in and removed the blood and fluid that was threatening his life. This was so bad that we found out the next morning if he hadn't had the surgery he would have died before morning.

Tyler is doing better post surgery but time heals all wounds. We need lots of positive prayers and healing energy. Tyler is currently stable and is having his meds decreased to eventually be weaned off of support. We are still unsure what this means for Tyler since he is semi-unconscious, and until he can fully wake up we won't know if he can walk, talk, etc. His right brain was effected by the stroke and while all of the scans look good, it's hard to tell the damage till the swelling is gone.

Once we get past those steps, we begin another possible life changing process. Tyler will have to have radiation to his brain for the 3 small tumors. While the radiation used in this treatment will be specifically located, it could also cause damage to his brain. So there is no way for us to know if Tyler will ever be able to use the right side of his body the same again--he is right handed--or if he will be able to walk unassisted. He also may never be able to return to the jobs he loves working on cars and as a Starbucks barista.

We just have none of the answers of what the future will look like at this point. We do know that it will take weeks to have all of these answers. In the process of all this, Tyler was also unable to tell us where his wallet is and we have no access to medical cards or anything to handle finances, etc. This is making things quite complicated.