Hi, My name is Pete Gialamas and I am raising funds for a long time friend of mine Andy Schatz who has fallen on some very tough times. Andy lives in Florida on a houseboat and on Monday, November 20th of 2023, he had an incident where he fell and was rendered unconscious. He is still not sure what happened to cause this episode (no, he had not been drinking) but he remained pinned and unconscious between a seat and table until the following Saturday when a friend came by to do a well being check. His friend called 911 and he was rushed to the hospital barely clinging to life.

He was diagnosed with 11 pressure ulcers, major nerve damage to both hands and forearms, rhabdomyolysis and heart damage similar to that of a mild heart attack. He was admitted and remained there until January 2nd of 2024. Once released, he had to go to a wound care doctor for the pressure ulcers, and upon examination of the wound on his chest, they sent him back to the ER and he was admitted once again and had to have surgery on his chest. In total, he spent 53 days in the hospital.

He has been unable to work since the incident and had to sell his boat and rent a room from a friend. He has no income except for the funds from sale of his boat and that won't last much longer. Although he does have insurance, that only pays so much and the medical bills are stacking up, not to mention the price of just everyday living. He has been working really hard in both physical and occupational therapy to get better, but with the nerve damage, it will be a very long long road.

For those of you that know Andy, he has always been a very hard worker and this is just killing him. He has a really big heart and would be the first one to help any of his friends if he could. Please contribute whatever you can to help my friend through this really difficult time. Thank you and God bless, Pete