- T
Hi, friends and supporters!
My name is Jenn. I am writing to ask for your help, as I have been seriously injured in an accident that involved a very unfortunate chain of circumstances that cannot be totally blamed on any one person, but has resulted in some severe hardship. The aftermath potentially could destroy my career and finances without some assistance from you.
I was born in southwest Detroit, Michigan. As a teenager, my family and I relocated to the suburbs before I enlisted in the Navy. I attended boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois, received further training in Pensacola, Florida, and was then stationed at the Naval Air Station Oceana before reporting to the USS George Washington at Norfolk, after which we sailed to our new station in Japan, where I served for 3 years. I finished my Navy career at NAS Mayport.
I honorably served my country in the military, spending over seven years in the service as an Aviation Electronics technician, working on the F-18 Fighter Jet, H-60 Helos and multiple other platforms such as the Hawkeye and the Prowler.
After my honorable discharge in February of 2014, I enrolled in nursing school with the aim of becoming a registered nurse. I was to start the clinical portion of my classes in January of 2015, and at that time would have been enrolled in a health insurance plan as required for clinicals to cover me while I worked toward my degree. As a member of the US Navy, of course, all my medical needs were taken care of, and so a few months with no health insurance didn't seem like a terrible risk, but I was greatly underestimating the catastrophe that can befall a person with no health insurance.
The night of the accident, my boyfriend and I were at home with some friends visiting from out of town. Our friend went out to the car and brought in his Glock .40 cal. semi-auto pistol, on which he had installed a tactical flashlight and a laser sight, to show us. We are both experienced gun handlers, and are well-indoctrinated in safety procedures regarding use and care of handguns.
My boyfriend then began to examine the weapon, verifying that the magazine was removed and the weapon cleared, after he had inspected it. The magazine was then put back into place.
Our friend came back and started to break the weapon down for safe storage, without checking if the magazine had been reinserted, even though this step is apart of basic gun safety. Tearing down a .40 cal. Glock requires that you pull the slide back as you press the slide release, allowing the slide to be removed from the front. You must then release the firing mechanism by pulling the trigger before you can remove the slide. Our friend did not realize that he had chambered a round, thinking that the gun was unloaded and cleared, so when he pulled the trigger to release the firing mechanism, that round fired. The bullet went through his hand, which he was holding in front of the weapon so as to grip and remove the slide. I, at this same instant, had reached out to close the back door, and the round entered the top of my arm about 2 inches above my wrist and blew out the underside of my arm, tearing through the bone and tendons going to my hand, luckily missing the main arteries and only badly bruising the nerves that control motion to the hand. I was rushed to the Trauma center where they bandaged the wound and performed surgery to repair the tendons (and to try to reconstruct the shattered bones) and installed 4 rods along with an external fixator, I spent the next week in the hospital recovering from the surgery and allowing the doctors and staff to administer antibiotics and attempt to find a pain medication that would ease the pain a little so as to get me off of the morphine I had to be given every 2.5 hours for 4 days. MY next surgery will be late November which will entail taking bone from my knee to fill in the bone that is missing and having titanium plates put into my arm and the external fixator taken out along with the 4 rods.
As of right now we are looking at $64,000 for the first surgery and hospital stay, physical therapy for the next year estimated at $25,000-38,000, and the additional costs of another hospital stay to finish repairing the bone and installing the plates. So far the antibiotics have cost $875. The overall costs could reach $250,000. My only income since leaving the Navy has come from the post- 9/11 GI BillI funds which have paid for my nursing school and paid me roughly $1400 a month for living expenses, Right now I am unable to return to school and am not sure when I will be able to at this point but am looking forward to getting back and finishing my degree. I have faith that I will be able to use my experience to help my patients, especially with what I am learning about traumatic injury, reconstruction and pain management.
My boyfriend works as an Industrial mechanic, and is currently working 7 days a week on the 3rd shift, to try and make up for my lost income and to be able to pay for the medications I need, as well as the continuing doctor visits that must be paid for in advance. He is a real hero by doing this, all while taking me to my physical therapy and doctors' appointments. He also has to remove all the bandages on my arm and replace them multiple times a day to clean and maintain my injury and to reduce the risk of infection.
Needless to say, whatever financial assistance you can provide will be very gratefully accepted. You will be investing in the career of an RN who will be prepared to assist trauma patients in a most compassionate and effective fashion.You will be helping to convert a catastrophe into a blessing. Thank you so very much for whatever help you can contribute!
My name is Jenn. I am writing to ask for your help, as I have been seriously injured in an accident that involved a very unfortunate chain of circumstances that cannot be totally blamed on any one person, but has resulted in some severe hardship. The aftermath potentially could destroy my career and finances without some assistance from you.
I was born in southwest Detroit, Michigan. As a teenager, my family and I relocated to the suburbs before I enlisted in the Navy. I attended boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois, received further training in Pensacola, Florida, and was then stationed at the Naval Air Station Oceana before reporting to the USS George Washington at Norfolk, after which we sailed to our new station in Japan, where I served for 3 years. I finished my Navy career at NAS Mayport.
I honorably served my country in the military, spending over seven years in the service as an Aviation Electronics technician, working on the F-18 Fighter Jet, H-60 Helos and multiple other platforms such as the Hawkeye and the Prowler.
After my honorable discharge in February of 2014, I enrolled in nursing school with the aim of becoming a registered nurse. I was to start the clinical portion of my classes in January of 2015, and at that time would have been enrolled in a health insurance plan as required for clinicals to cover me while I worked toward my degree. As a member of the US Navy, of course, all my medical needs were taken care of, and so a few months with no health insurance didn't seem like a terrible risk, but I was greatly underestimating the catastrophe that can befall a person with no health insurance.
The night of the accident, my boyfriend and I were at home with some friends visiting from out of town. Our friend went out to the car and brought in his Glock .40 cal. semi-auto pistol, on which he had installed a tactical flashlight and a laser sight, to show us. We are both experienced gun handlers, and are well-indoctrinated in safety procedures regarding use and care of handguns.
My boyfriend then began to examine the weapon, verifying that the magazine was removed and the weapon cleared, after he had inspected it. The magazine was then put back into place.
Our friend came back and started to break the weapon down for safe storage, without checking if the magazine had been reinserted, even though this step is apart of basic gun safety. Tearing down a .40 cal. Glock requires that you pull the slide back as you press the slide release, allowing the slide to be removed from the front. You must then release the firing mechanism by pulling the trigger before you can remove the slide. Our friend did not realize that he had chambered a round, thinking that the gun was unloaded and cleared, so when he pulled the trigger to release the firing mechanism, that round fired. The bullet went through his hand, which he was holding in front of the weapon so as to grip and remove the slide. I, at this same instant, had reached out to close the back door, and the round entered the top of my arm about 2 inches above my wrist and blew out the underside of my arm, tearing through the bone and tendons going to my hand, luckily missing the main arteries and only badly bruising the nerves that control motion to the hand. I was rushed to the Trauma center where they bandaged the wound and performed surgery to repair the tendons (and to try to reconstruct the shattered bones) and installed 4 rods along with an external fixator, I spent the next week in the hospital recovering from the surgery and allowing the doctors and staff to administer antibiotics and attempt to find a pain medication that would ease the pain a little so as to get me off of the morphine I had to be given every 2.5 hours for 4 days. MY next surgery will be late November which will entail taking bone from my knee to fill in the bone that is missing and having titanium plates put into my arm and the external fixator taken out along with the 4 rods.
As of right now we are looking at $64,000 for the first surgery and hospital stay, physical therapy for the next year estimated at $25,000-38,000, and the additional costs of another hospital stay to finish repairing the bone and installing the plates. So far the antibiotics have cost $875. The overall costs could reach $250,000. My only income since leaving the Navy has come from the post- 9/11 GI BillI funds which have paid for my nursing school and paid me roughly $1400 a month for living expenses, Right now I am unable to return to school and am not sure when I will be able to at this point but am looking forward to getting back and finishing my degree. I have faith that I will be able to use my experience to help my patients, especially with what I am learning about traumatic injury, reconstruction and pain management.
My boyfriend works as an Industrial mechanic, and is currently working 7 days a week on the 3rd shift, to try and make up for my lost income and to be able to pay for the medications I need, as well as the continuing doctor visits that must be paid for in advance. He is a real hero by doing this, all while taking me to my physical therapy and doctors' appointments. He also has to remove all the bandages on my arm and replace them multiple times a day to clean and maintain my injury and to reduce the risk of infection.
Needless to say, whatever financial assistance you can provide will be very gratefully accepted. You will be investing in the career of an RN who will be prepared to assist trauma patients in a most compassionate and effective fashion.You will be helping to convert a catastrophe into a blessing. Thank you so very much for whatever help you can contribute!