Funeral & medical bills
John Coffey (48) of Marble, North Carolina is a husband, a father, a brother, an uncle, and a great friend. His family is his greatest accomplishment. He and Amber Coffey (44) also of Marble, North Carolina have been married happily for 24 years during which time they welcomed the birth of their son, Dillon (23), and their daughter, Taylor (21). Throughout John's life as a father, he has coached many sports alongside friends and family. He has volunteered and helped the communities with general support and DIY projects to better the communities themselves and the people that reside within them. A lot of you might know John as the Duke Energy Man or the guy who can turn back on the lights. He's worked for Duke Energy for over 20 years and has made many connections during this time. Some of you might know him from the home-made, ground-up business that he and Amber built together, Coffey Customs, in Andrews, North Carolina. No matter how you know John, or even if you don't know him at all, there is a new story to hear.
On August 5th, his wife Amber was diagnosed with COVID-19. Just two days later, it was discovered that John also had COVID-19. Less than a week after both diagnoses, on August 10th, Amber was hospitalized. Like aforementioned, John is a lot of things to many different people, but he is also stubborn. With Amber in the hospital and John being as stubborn as he is, he did not deem it necessary to be hospitalized himself and things were looking up for the Coffeys when Amber came home from the hospital on August 16th. However, the morning following Amber's return, an ambulance was called to the Coffey residence to take John to Union General Hospital in Blairsville, Georgia with his oxygen in the lower 50s. Shortly after admittance, it was discovered that, both, John and Amber had developed pneumonia atop of COVID-19. During his stay at Union General Hospital, John was placed on antibiotics and placed on a bi-pap machine which helps breathe for him, but he developed pneumothorax where air is being pushed outside of his lungs. It then became apparent that Union General Hospital's treatment plan would not be sufficient enough for John's medical needs. Therefore on August 24th, John was flown via helicopter over to Northeast Georgia Medical Center of Gainesville, Georgia while intubated and, upon arrival, he had to be placed on a ventilator 100%. The two days that followed, the hospital staff were able to move the ventilator percentage down to 65%. On the third day at Northeast Georgia Medicial Center, John's oxygen fell out of normal range again and the ventilator was bumped back up to 100% again. He's been at 100% on the ventilator since the 28th of August. It has been determined since then that John has developed an infection of the lung due to the pneumonia and pneumothorax. From both, the pneumothorax and its subcutaneous air, John is having difficulty breathing even on thr ventilator and he is experiencing an extreme amount of swelling throughout the entire body. There is no treatment or cure for the pneumothorax nor the swelling, so the plan of action is waiting for the air to absorb into surrounding cells and tissue within the body.
The family is asking for prayers and uplifting thoughts and have been so humbled by the amount of kind words and people who have reached out already. The family is also aware of God's performance of miracles and are hopeful to see one in John's case.
