My wife Jennifer is my hero and the strongest person I’ve ever met. In her life, she’s suffered 3 hospitalizations and the death of both biological parents, yet she STILL finds a reason to smile everyday.

My name is Marlon, and I’m fundraising for my wife’s prosthetics. This incredibly selfless, resilient woman lost her right hand and 3 of her toes in December 23, 2022 due complications with the flu, pneumonia, sepsis, blood clots, and gangrene.

We experienced the best day of our lives getting married on August 6, 2022 without knowing her greatest personal tragedy was coming 4 months later. Jennifer was feeling ill around Thanksgiving and thought it was a common cold until she was admitted to the ICU for the flu and pneumonia on November 28th. Upon check in, Jennifer advised triage nurses that she has a genetic blood clotting disorder, Factor V Leiden. It’s never caused complications before, but it was something she’d wanted to mention as she could tell the issue was more than a cold.

The illness progressed so quickly that the doctors medically induced her coma and intubated her on a ventilator for 14 days of her 33 day hospitalization. Her resting heart rate was 150 (twice the normal rate), and her blood pressure was 110/50 (extremely low). Her vital signs were dropping everyday, and doctors weren’t convinced she was going to survive. Every single vital organ was failing, and our family was terrified. Her step-dad, her sister, and I took turns sleeping at the hospital so she wouldn’t be alone.

To save her life, her body was sending her blood supply to her vital organs, organically cutting off blood supply to her extremities. This lead to gangrene on her left foot and, ultimately, amputation of 3 toes.

Due to her clotting disorder and the placement of her IV, she formed 2 blood clots in her wrist stopping blood supply to her right hand. Doctors refused to operate on it because the wrist is too small an area and likely to cause her to bleed out. Her hand was amputated above the wrist just 2 days before Christmas.

Through all of this, Jennifer kept us encouraged! She had a spontaneous recovery and was taken off the ventilator. She continuously told us that she would be ok and not to worry. She was talking joyfully about her future as if nothing had happened, and witnessing that was so inspiring.

Jennifer does not qualify for disability assistance. She would’ve had to lose both hands or 1 hand and 1 foot above the ankle. Losing 1 hand and 3 toes isn’t enough though it causes balance issues and difficulty doing everyday tasks (walking, tying shoes, grooming, and cooking).

Prosthetics would give her the sense of normalcy that a good person like her deserves. She’s spent her life pursuing psychology to help others, and she’s been a sexual assault volunteer for 5 years in her free time.

Please, lend us a helping hand to expense my wife’s prosthetic hand and toes. I’m a social worker for the HIV/AIDS population, and we’ve exhausted our financial resources trying to get this done for her. Your contribution will mean everything to us.