John Kirk Needs Our Help

Our beloved friend John Kirk, who until recently had found his way to a wonderfully healthy and active lifestyle, is now unexpectedly suffering through a rare and crippling autoimmune disease and desperately needs our help.

Known as CIPD, the defense mechanisms in John's own body that normally help defend from disease and illness are attacking part of his nervous system. The result is debilitating pain and muscular atrophy. John is currently unable to walk and will be confined to a wheelchair for the foreseeable future. He cannot drive, has been unable to work, and cannot return to his second-floor home. In the best-case scenario, John will undergo months and potentially years of rehabilitation, and is facing a mountain of medical bills and other unexpected related costs. The guy many of us remember enjoying life with a fly rod in hand, hunting waterfowl in the salt marshes, or telling stories among a group of close friends is fighting simply to get by.

John needs help to pay his mounting medical bills, cover travel and physical therapy at an assisted living facility in Colorado, purchase a wheelchair that can help accommodate his lifestyle, and pay other associated bills related to his condition and inability to work.

For those of us who know and love John, we recognize his remarkable combination of traits: funny, brilliant, sweet, resilient, a little goofy, and generous to a fault. His resiliency is being tested more than ever before as John suffers through the most challenging chapter in his life. It is time for his friends, loved ones, and people who care about helping the good people in this world to repay John's inherent and rare generosity. He's counting on us.